Place Olton Station code OLT DfT category E Address Solihull, United Kingdom | Grid reference SP134822 Managed by London Midland 2011/12 0.358 million Number of platforms 2 | |
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Pte Transport for West Midlands Similar Hall Green railway station, Dorridge railway station, Tyseley railway station, Acocks Green railway st, Solihull railway station | ||
Olton railway station serves the Olton area of Solihull, in the West Midlands of England. The station is operated by London Midland, and is also served by Chiltern Railways services. The entrance seen in the centre where the station's booking office is located leads into a tunnel which runs under the tracks providing an access staircase and lift to the island platform. The station also has a car park and bicycle racks.
Contents
Origins
Olton station was opened in 1869 on the GWR's Oxford & Birmingham Branch and its prime role was as a suburban passenger station for Birmingham commuters, explaining why the booking office was located on the down platform.
Olton originally had two signal boxes, the first of which only had 10 levers. It was built by McKenzie and Holland and located at the Leamington Spa end of the up platform which was replaced in June 1913 but was ultimately closed in 1933.
Expansion
Olton station originally had a two-platform configuration with basic facilities, but taking advantage of the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act of 1929, the Great Western Railway continued to quadruple the Birmingham Main Line as far as Lapworth, rebuilding five stations including Olton with two wide island platforms in 1932.
Current layout
The station was rebuilt in the 1930s and the new approach 'Station Drive' was also constructed. The station now has one wide island platform with trains to Solihull, Leamington Spa and London stopping one side and to Birmingham and Worcester the other. The platform building has been significantly reduced by the removal of its roof canopy.
Services
The station is served by three trains per hour in each direction between Birmingham Snow Hill and Dorridge. The Birmingham trains continue to either Stourbridge Junction, Kidderminster or Worcester Foregate Street. One Dorridge service per hour continues to Stratford-upon-Avon, in peak hours some services extend to Leamington Spa. Also a limited number of Chiltern Railways services stop here in the late evening and a single service operates in the morning commuter peak period.
On Sundays, there is an hourly service each way between Stourbridge Junction and Dorridge.