Managed by London Midland 2011/12 44,266 Station code WTO | Grid reference SP174912 DfT category F2 2012/13 39,718 Number of platforms 2 | |
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Similar Coleshill Parkway railway st, Hamstead railway station, Chester Road railway st, Gravelly Hill railway station, Blake Street railway st | ||
Water Orton railway station serves Water Orton in Warwickshire, near Birmingham, England. It is owned by Network Rail, and managed by London Midland. However, no London Midland trains stop there; it is only served by CrossCountry services.
Contents
History
It was first opened in 1842 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway on its line into Birmingham Lawley Street from Whitacre Junction.
However the Midland Railway built a cutoff line from slightly further west to a junction at Kingsbury in 1909 and the station was resited. Although the distance saved was only a mile-and-a-quarter, the junctions at Water Orton and Kingsbury could be taken at a much higher speed than the original one at Whitacre.
An interesting side note is that a freak tornado in Birmingham in 1996 damaged the wooden staircase. Rather than remove and replace the stairs, the damaged staircase was repaired in situ resulting in a zig zag appearance. Local residents approved of this and it was left as it is found today.
Services
Platform 1 is used for trains to Leicester and Birmingham. Platform 2 is used for trains to Derby, of which only one calls.
Services are mainly two hourly to Birmingham New Street and Leicester, with additional services in the peak.
There is one train a day Monday-Friday to Derby via Tamworth; one also calls in the opposite direction.
There is no Sunday service.