Place Coventry Station code CAA 2015/16 11,964 Address Coventry, United Kingdom | Grid reference SP344833 Managed by London Midland 18 January 2016 Opened Number of platforms 2 | |
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Similar Bermuda Park railway st, Canley railway station, Arena Park Shopping Centre, Earlswood (West Midlands, Sutton Coldfield Town rail | ||
Coventry Arena railway station in the north of Coventry, England is one of two new railway stations on the Coventry-Nuneaton Line. It serves the adjacent Ricoh Arena, for which it is named. Both it and Bermuda Park station opened on 18 January 2016 after considerable delays.
Combined with the stadium's copious parking it provides a Park and Ride facility. The station has two platforms on the existing double tracked line. The northbound platform, adjacent to the stadium, is three cars long, but the southbound platform is 6 cars long. Step-free access is provided to both platforms, and there are gates and holding facilities to cope with event-days at the Ricoh.
Although the station was intended to serve the adjacent Ricoh Arena, it was announced in August 2015 that the station will be closed for one hour preceding and following football matches, rugby matches and concerts on safety grounds: there is insufficient rolling stock to run the services necessary for spectators: while six-carriage trains could be chartered to run every half-an-hour during weekends, the fares generated would not cover the chartering cost. Operator London Midland stated that the rolling stock restriction limited services to one train an hour using a single-coach Class 153 unit, which can only seat 75 people. In September 2015 it was revealed that Coventry City Council were looking into the possibility of using converted London Underground D-trains to run extra services on match days, but diesel trains of any kind (and thus services for stadium patrons) are unlikely to be available at all before late 2017.
History
No previous station has existed at this site, however the former Longford and Exhall station, which closed in 1949 was situated around 1⁄2 mile (800 m) to the north.
Funding for the new station was approved in December 2011. In August 2012 it was announced that construction of the new station was to start in December of that year and take approximately 12 months to complete, with the station due to open in December 2013. However, the start of construction was delayed, mainly due to uncertainty surrounding Coventry City F.C.'s future at the Ricoh Arena.
In December 2013 it was announced that plans had hit another setback and were not expected to be complete until 2017. However, in April 2014 it was announced that construction works were scheduled to start in May 2014 with completion in May 2015. On 26 June 2014 Buckingham Group were announced as the company awarded the contract. Work was announced as underway in October 2014 with services projected to start in June 2015, although this was later pushed back several times.
A new opening date of Monday 18 January 2016 was announced by train operator London Midland on Friday 15 January 2016. The station opened together with Bermuda Park railway station in Nuneaton on 18 January 2016.