Hockley railway station (West Midlands)

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Hockley
Hockley 1967.jpg
Hockley station in 1967
General information
Location Hockley, Birmingham
England
Coordinates 52°29′27″N1°55′04″W / 52.4907°N 1.9177°W / 52.4907; -1.9177 Coordinates: 52°29′27″N1°55′04″W / 52.4907°N 1.9177°W / 52.4907; -1.9177
Grid reference SP056880
Platforms4
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
1854Opened [1]
1972Closed [1]
1995 Jewellery Quarter station opened a short distance east

Hockley was an intermediate station on the Great Western Railway's London Paddington to Birkenhead via Birmingham Snow Hill line, England, serving the Hockley area of Birmingham. It was around one mile from Snow Hill station. [2] Opened in 1854, it lasted for the duration of the line's original life, eventually closing with the line in 1972. [3]

Contents

The station had two bay and one island platform, with the only pedestrian access for passengers to the latter being from below.

Replacement

When the line was reopened in 1995, Hockley station was not reopened. However a new station; Jewellery Quarter station was opened around 100 yards (91 m) to the east, at the mouth of Hockley No 2 Tunnel. On the other side of Icknield Street. [4]

Little trace now remains of the original station, as the site was cleared in the 1990s when the line was reopened.

Hockley goods depot

1939 aerial photograph showing the goods depot, with the passenger platform at its centre. The canal interchange is top right. EPW062659 ENGLAND (1939). A cityscape over Hockley and Brookfields, Birmingham (cropped- GWR goods depot).png
1939 aerial photograph showing the goods depot, with the passenger platform at its centre. The canal interchange is top right.

Between 1854 and 1967, a large goods depot was situated alongside the station. It was the Great Western Railway's principal goods depot for the Birmingham area. [5] The depot measured three-quarters of a mile long by two to three hundred yards wide. At the western end it had a transshipment interchange with barges on the Soho Loop of the Birmingham Canal. In the 1920s the depot employed over one thousand permanent staff. [5]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Soho and Winson Green   Great Western Railway
Birmingham–Wolverhampton (1854-1972)
  Birmingham Snow Hill

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References

  1. 1 2 "Hockley Station". Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  2. "Hockley Station". Warwickshire Railways. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  3. Bartholomew's Pocket Atlas and Guide to Birmingham. Edinburgh: John Bartholomew' & Son Ltd. 1949. p. 20.
  4. "Jewellery Quarter station". railaroundbirmingham. Rail around Birmingham. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Hockley Goods Depot". Warwickshire Railways. Retrieved 5 May 2014.

Further reading