Blakedown
National Rail
General information
LocationBlakedown, Wyre Forest
England
Grid referenceSO880787
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byWest Midlands Trains
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeBKD
ClassificationDfT category F1
Key dates
1852
?
?		Opened as Churchill
Renamed Churchill & Blakedown
Renamed Blakedown
Passengers
2018/19Decrease 97,242
2019/20Increase 99,500
2020/21Decrease 38,914
2021/22Increase 60,810
2022/23Increase 72,972
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Blakedown railway station serves the English village of Blakedown, Worcestershire. It was opened as Churchill in 1852, later becoming known for a time as Churchill & Blakedown after the two villages became a single parish.

The station is unstaffed, with only a basic shelter on each platform. There is a level crossing immediately to the west of the platforms, and in the absence of a footbridge or subway this is also the only method for passengers to cross the tracks.

The platforms were lengthened in the 1990s to allow longer trains to call. This is because Blakedown is within the Birmingham commuter band and over the twenty years between 1998 - 2018 usage of the station has increased by 147%. Currently there is a proposal to develop a car park on an adjacent field site to cater for further anticipated growth.[1]

Since August 2012 the signalling system has been altered, with the former signal box having been closed and control of the nearby crossing and signals transferred to the Saltley Rail Operating Centre. The old signal box was then acquired by the Churchill and Blakedown Historical Society for its headquarters and was shifted across the road to a site adjoining the station in 2016.[2]

Services

Since 2017, West Midlands Railway has run an off-peak service every 30 minutes each way, with off-peak trains terminating at Kidderminster westbound, and eastbound services running alternately to Stratford-upon-Avon and Whitlocks End. Through services are available to Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill, and Dorridge at peak periods, with a nighttime service running to Leamington Spa Mondays to Saturdays. There is a two-hourly service from the station each way on Sundays, with through trains to and from Worcester.[3][4][5]

From September 2002 until May 2023, Chiltern Railways peak-hour services from Kidderminster to London Marylebone called at Hagley. Therefore, Blakedown commuters could change there for a service to London.[6][7][8][9]

References

  1. ↑ Blakedown station car park options Worcestershire County Council 27 June 2019
  2. ↑ , Restored piece of Blakedown history unveiled to community Kidderminster Shuttle 24 October 2016
  3. ↑ Table 71 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  4. ↑ "Train timetables and schedules | Blakedown". West Midlands Railway.
  5. ↑ "Train times | Snow Hill Lines - Worcester to Birmingham Snow Hill, Solihull and Stratford upon Avon | 21 May until 9 December 2023". West Midlands Railway.
  6. ↑ MP at launch of London train Worcester News 30 September 2002
  7. ↑ Passengers advised new train timetables imminent BBC News 5 May 2023
  8. ↑ Balancing enhancements with efficiency Modern Railways issue 896 May 2023 page 63
  9. ↑ Chiltern re-times trains to retain extra midweek peak capacity Rail issue 983 17 May 2023 page 10

Further reading

  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2007). Worcester to Birmingham. Middleton Press. figs. 42-44. ISBN 9781904474975. OCLC 263292710.

Media related to Blakedown railway station at Wikimedia Commons

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Hagley   West Midlands Railway
Stratford/Whitlocks End-Birmingham-Worcester via Kidderminster
Snow Hill Lines		   Kidderminster
  West Midlands Railway
Leamington-Worcester		  

52°24′22″N 2°10′34″W / 52.406°N 2.176°W / 52.406; -2.176


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