Rugeley Trent Valley railway station

Rugeley Trent Valley
The station in 2012, looking north.
General information
Location	Colton, Lichfield District England
Grid reference	SK048191
Managed by	West Midlands Railway
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	RGL
Classification	DfT category F1
History
Opened	15 September 1847
Passengers
2017/18	0.160 million
Interchange	37,267
2018/19	0.183 million
Interchange	34,425
2019/20	0.176 million
Interchange	32,605
2020/21	49,394
Interchange	8,262
2021/22	0.148 million
Interchange	26,660
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Rugeley Trent Valley is a railway station located on the outskirts of Rugeley in Staffordshire, England. It is one of two stations serving Rugeley, the other being Rugeley Town. It is on the eastern side of the town close to the Rugeley Trent Valley Trading Estate and located close to the River Trent. West Midlands Trains operate the station, and all trains serving it.

It is a minor station on the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line. It is also the junction with the Chase Line from Birmingham and Walsall.

The station in 1958

History

The main line had opened back in September 1847 and the station along with it. The line from Cannock was added by the Cannock Mineral Railway in 1859. On 25 May 1998 the Chase Line was extended back into Rugeley Trent Valley from Birmingham New Street and Walsall. Services had previously been withdrawn in January 1965, as a result of the Beeching cuts.

From the mid-1960s until 1998, it was served only by local stopping trains between Stafford and either Rugby or (from 1987) Coventry – these were withdrawn in 2004 when work began to upgrade the main line to four tracks, with bus replacements operating until London Midland introduced the present semi-fast service between London Euston and Crewe via Stafford in 2008.

The station was the location of Queen Elizabeth II's naming of Class 67 locomotive No. 67029 Royal Diamond, marking her diamond wedding anniversary with Prince Philip, on 12 October 2007.

Layout

Rugeley Trent Valley has three platforms with Platform 3 located at the main entrance and Platforms 1 and 2 located on an island platform. Platform 1 is bi-directional which is used for terminating services from Birmingham New Street where as Platform 2 is used for northbound services to Crewe while Platform 3 is used for southbound services to London Euston. Between Platforms 2 and 3 there are two fast lines for non-stop services. All platforms are electrified.

Rugeley Trent Valley is unstaffed but does have a ticket machine and a PERTIS machine at the entrance, as the Penalty fare scheme operates here. Intending passengers must buy a ticket or permit to travel before boarding.

Services

Rugeley Trent Valley is managed by West Midlands Trains who operate all the train services.

Chase Line

The station is served by trains operated by West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway on the Chase Line from Birmingham New Street. From 2008 to 2019 these ran half-hourly during peak times and hourly during off peak times on weekdays, half-hourly on Saturdays and hourly on Sundays. These services used to be extended to terminate at Stafford, but as of the December 2008 timetable changes these services were all been cut back to terminate at Rugeley Trent Valley.

The Chase Line saw a major timetable reorganisation in May 2019, coinciding the completion of electrification. Services ran half-hourly throughout the day, and initially trains alternated in terminating at Birmingham International and London Euston via Birmingham, Coventry, Northampton and Milton Keynes.

The service was simplified by 2021, with all Chase line services to and from Rugeley Trent Valley being West Midlands Railway services terminating at Birmingham New Street, calling at all stations north of and including Walsall, but only stopping at Tame Bridge Parkway south of there. The frequency remained at 2tph on Mondays to Saturdays, while on Sundays services ran hourly.

In the May 2023 timetable, Rugeley Trent Valley is served by half-hourly services on the Chase Line calling at all local stations to Walsall followed by Tame Bridge Parkway and Birmingham New Street before running to terminate at Birmingham International. On matchdays at Bescot Stadium and Villa Park services often make additional calls at Bescot Stadium, Aston and Witton.

West Coast Main Line

London Northwestern Railway operates an hourly service northbound to Crewe via Stafford and southbound to Euston via Lichfield Trent Valley, Nuneaton and Rugby on the Trent Valley Line.<ref>"London Northwestern Railway - Timetable from Sunday 21 May 2023 - Crewe to London via Nuneaton". London Northwestern Railway. 21 May 2023.<ref> Most services on this route run fast between Rugby and Milton Keynes Central with occasional stops at Northampton in the peak.

Intercity Avanti West Coast services between London Euston and North West England do not call at Rugeley Trent Valley, due to the low passenger numbers compared to other Trent Valley stations as well as short platforms which do not accommodate the Class 390 Pendolino or Class 221 Tilting Super Voyager trains Avanti West Coast operate.

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2016). Rugeley to Stoke-on-Trent. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 1–8. ISBN 9781908174901. OCLC 972169395.

External links

• Train times and station information for Rugeley Trent Valley railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		West Midlands Railway Chase Line		Rugeley Town
Stafford		London Northwestern Railway London–Crewe		Lichfield Trent Valley