Kenilworth railway station

Last updated

Kenilworth
National Rail logo.svg
Kenilworth station building exterior (3).jpg
The main building of the reopened Kenilworth station
General information
Location Kenilworth, Warwick
England
Coordinates 52°20′34″N1°34′21″W / 52.3429°N 1.5726°W / 52.3429; -1.5726
Grid reference SP291716
Managed by West Midlands Railway
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeKNW
History
Original company London and Birmingham Railway
Pre-grouping London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping London Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
9 December 1844Opened
1884Rebuilt
18 January 1965Closed
30 April 2018Reopened
18 January 2021Rail services suspended temporarily
26 April 2021Rail services resumed
Passengers
2018/190.170 million
Coventry–Leamington line
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BSicon HST.svg
Berkswell
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Berkswell Loop
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Coventry
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Gibbet Hill Junction
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Kenilworth Junction
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Kenilworth
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A46
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Milverton Junction
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Warwick (Milverton)
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link added after
Avenue station closed
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Leamington Spa General
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Leamington Spa (Avenue)
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In 2008, train operator CrossCountry and Warwickshire County Council supported the reopening and started to prepare a business case. [8] It was included in the 2008–09 Warwickshire Local Transport Plan. [9] [ vague ] In July 2009 it was announced that John Laing plc had been awarded a 20-year contract to design, build, and operate the new station, due to open in 2013. [10] [11] Planning permission was granted in April 2011 [12] but funding was refused. [13] In late 2011, John Laing successfully asked to withdraw from the contract as there was no funding available for the station construction to go ahead in the immediate future.

In November 2011 the upgrading of the Coventry to Nuneaton route was approved, renewing new hope for regeneration of the line through Kenilworth. In February 2013, Warwickshire County Council made a £5 million funding bid to the new fund the government had created to construct or renovate stations. [14] In June 2013 the Department for Transport approved funding for the new station. [15] Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin identified a potential opening date of 2016. [16] In December 2013 the DfT reannounced its grant of £5 million toward the station's £11.3 million total cost, and gave the opening date as December 2016. [17] On 4 October 2014 test runs were made between Leamington and Coventry to check timings along the route. [18]

Design and construction

The design selected for the new station was a 'traditional' building based on the former station closed in the 1960s. This design was selected in 2014 from three possible options following feedback from the public. [19]

In early summer 2016 Graham Construction Ltd was awarded the contract to build the station. The official start of work on site took place on 29 July 2016 when Jeremy Wright, the local Member of Parliament, ceremonially broke ground. [20] As only a single track now runs through the site, the new station was built with only one platform initially, but has been built with passive provision for a second platform if or when the line through it is re-doubled. Plans for re-doubling the line from Milverton Junction to Kenilworth were put on hold by Network Rail in 2016. [21] [22] In April 2018, it was announced that plans for a second track on the line were back on but would not be completed until 2027 with the arrival of HS2. [23]

Opening of new station

Although the initial completion date was August 2017, which was due to be delivered on time by the county council, the start-of-service date was moved to 10 December 2017 owing to a delay in track and signalling work by Network Rail. [24] Subsequently, Network Rail completed the necessary track and signalling interventions required to facilitate the station opening by 10 December 2017, but the station build was not complete.

As part of the franchise agreement with West Midlands Trains, effective from December 2017, a new hourly service between Leamington Spa and Coventry would call at Kenilworth. [25] The service was supposed to commence on Sunday 10 December 2017 [26] but was delayed for a third time, to start on 26 February 2018, [27] as the Department for Transport stated that no rolling stock or drivers would be available until that time. [28] However, in February 2018, it was revealed that the station's opening had been delayed for a fourth time and the station would not open until 5 March at the earliest. [29]

On 20 March 2018, correspondence from the Office of Rail and Road was released into the public domain which appeared to show that Warwickshire County Council had failed to submit essential safety information – necessary for final sign-off to be issued – thus delaying the project. [30]

The Office of Rail and Road authorised the opening of Kenilworth on 12 April 2018, [31] although initially with no Sunday service. [32] On 20 April 2018 Warwickshire County Council confirmed an opening date of 30 April 2018. [33] It was reported that the first train would be the 6:44 West Midlands Railway service towards Leamington Spa, [34] but it was subsequently announced that the 6:16 service towards Coventry was due to call before that. [35]

Suspension of services

In January 2021, less than three years after the station opened, all rail services calling at the station were suspended by the operator, West Midlands Trains due to staffing shortages as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [36] The move was condemned by the mayor of Kenilworth, the MP for Kenilworth and Southam and the local community. [37] [38] A reduced service resumed on 26 April 2021. [39] In December 2021 West Midlands Trains once again declared their failure to run services on the Coventry–Leamington line and the Coventry–Nuneaton line until at least the end of January 2022. [40] Services were restored on 27 February 2022. [41]

Services

An hourly service operated by West Midlands Trains runs southbound to Leamington Spa and northbound to Nuneaton via Coventry. Services originally ran to Coventry only, but since the May 2019 timetable change, northbound services were extended to Nuneaton on Mondays to Saturdays, and a Sunday service which terminates at Coventry was added. [42] The service was initially operated by a single-coach Class 153, but was subsequently operated by a two-coach Class 172 or Class 196.

Preceding station National Rail logo.svg National Rail Following station
Coventry   West Midlands Railway
Nuneaton - Leamington - Coventry
  Leamington Spa
  Historical railways  
Coventry
Line and station open
  London and North Western Railway
Coventry to Leamington Line
  Warwick (Milverton)
Line open, station closed
Berkswell
Line closed, station open
  London and North Western Railway
Berkswell Branch
 

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