Tamworth Railway Station
History
The original station was opened on 12 August 1839 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway, a forerunner of the Midland Railway, on its original route from Derby to Hampton-in-Arden meeting the London and Birmingham Railway for London. Later, in 1842, the B&DJ built a branch to Birmingham, terminating at Lawley Street railway station.
On 26 June 1847 the London and North Western Railway opened its Trent Valley line passing at a right angle beneath the original Birmingham and Derby line with a new joint station designed by John William Livock.
The joint station did not acquire the "High Level" and "Low Level" names until 1924. Since it was expected that only local trains would call, the low level platforms were on loops, with the running lines left clear for expresses. At that time there was a north to west curve linking the, by then, Midland Railway line with the LNWR line. This curve was opened in 1847, and closed in March 1969.
A north to east curve was also constructed, however it's unclear whether this chord was ever completed, let alone used. It appeared to have been built by the Midland Railway in around 1866, and track was laid on it, but for unknown reasons the junction to the Trent Valley Line appears to have never been completed. Some sources state that the tracks were lifted in 1878, certainly it was listed on maps as being dismantled by 1901.
Since Tamworth was the crossing of two major lines – one Bristol to Newcastle, the other Euston to Aberdeen – it was an important transfer station for the Royal Mail, with upwards of 2,000 bags of mail being transferred between the two lines every night by the 1950s. Mail lifts were provided between the low and high level lines to facilitate the transfer.
There was a large water tower and pumping station at the east end of the low level, pumping water from the River Anker below.
The original station was demolished in 1961 and a new station, built in functional style was designed by the architects for the London Midland Region of British Railways, Maurice Wheeler, E.G. Girdlestone and J.B. Sanders. The rebuilt station opened in 1962 and at the same time the Trent Valley Line was electrified, requiring the High level line and platforms to be raised by two feet.
Accidents and incidents
- On 14 September 1870, a mail train was diverted into a siding due to a signalman's error. It crashed through the buffers and ended up in the River Anker. Three people were killed.
Layout
There are four platforms:
- Platforms 1 and 2 on the low level (the West Coast Main Line):
- Platform 1 is a westbound platform for northward services towards Lichfield Trent Valley, Stafford, Crewe and the North West;
- Platform 2 is an eastbound platform for southward services towards Nuneaton, Rugby, Northampton and London.
- Platforms 3 and 4 on the high level (on the Cross Country Route):
Facilities
The main buildings are adjacent to platform 1 and incorporate a ticket office (staffed seven days per week – 06:10 to 20:00 Mondays to Saturdays and 09:45 – 16:15 Sundays), customer service enquiry counter, photo booth, toilets, post box and a coffee shop. Two self-service ticket machines are sited on the station frontage for use when the ticket office is closed. Platform 2 only has a waiting shelter, whilst both high level platforms have waiting rooms. Train running information is provided via automatic announcements, CIS displays and timetable poster boards.
Both low-level platforms are directly linked with both high-level platforms by staircases (4 in total). All platforms are fully accessible for disabled passengers, as the two levels are also linked by lifts (3 in total). There is, however, no direct lift between platforms 2 and 3; step-free access between these platforms is only via platforms 4 and 1.