Henley-in-Arden railway station

Henley-in-Arden is a railway station serving the small Warwickshire town of Henley-in-Arden, England. It is on the North Warwickshire Line between Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon.

Henley-in-Arden
Location
PlaceHenley-in-Arden
Local authorityStratford-on-Avon
Grid referenceSP148659
Operations
Station codeHNL
Managed byWest Midlands Trains
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.125 million
2015/16 0.132 million
2016/17 0.133 million
2017/18 0.140 million
2018/19 0.143 million
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Henley-in-Arden from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
Henley-in-Arden
to Birmingham via Solihull
to Birmingham via Shirley
Lapworth
Danzey
Rowington Junction
Henley-in-Arden
Wootton Wawen
to Stratford-upon-Avon
 Hatton
to Leamington Spa

History

First station and branch line

The first railway station at Henley was opened to passengers on 6 June 1894 (and to goods on 2 July 1894) at the end of a short branch line, 3 miles 7 chains (5.0 km) in length, running from Rowington Junction, near Lapworth (then known as Kingswood) on the Great Western Railway (GWR) main line from London to Birmingham. Construction of the branch line began in 1860, but was not finished because of a lack of funding. Construction was begun again in the 1890s by a new company, the Birmingham and Henley in Arden Railway, and completed in June 1894. The branch came under the control of the GWR in 1900.[1][2]

On 9 December 1907 the North Warwickshire Line was opened for goods traffic; it opened to passengers on 1 July 1908. This connected Henley with a new station, and made the branch line superfluous. A short spur, 32 chains (640 m) in length, was constructed to allow branch line trains to enter the new station, but the old one continued to be used for goods. The branch continued in operation until 1915, when it was closed as a wartime economy measure, and its tracks were taken up to be used for the First World War war effort. Official closure of the 2 miles 59 chains (4.4 km) between Rowington Junction and the old station took place on 1 January 1917. The short spur to the old station continued to be used for goods until December 1962.[1][3]

Current station

The current station was opened in 1908 with the North Warwickshire Line, which then was an important main line connecting Birmingham with Cheltenham via Stratford-upon-Avon. The new station was one of the most prestigious on the new line, and was provided with three platforms. One of which was for trains terminating from Birmingham, and for a short period, trains terminating from the old branch line, until it closed.[4]

The station today is unstaffed, and only two of the three original platforms are in use. The original station building and canopy is still extant on one platform, but is now boarded up.[5]

A modern lift-equipped footbridge was installed at the station in 2014, the original footbridge was dismantled and donated to the heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway[6] where it was re-erected at Broadway.

Services

The station is served by hourly local trains in each direction, between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stratford-upon-Avon, run by West Midlands Trains. Most Birmingham trains continue to Stourbridge Junction.[7] On Sundays, trains run to/from Worcester Foregate Street on the same hourly frequency.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Danzey   West Midlands Railway
North Warwickshire Line		   Wootton Wawen
  Heritage railways
Tyseley   Vintage Trains
The Shakespeare Express
July–September		   Stratford-upon-Avon
Disused railways
Lapworth
Line closed, station open		   Great Western Railway
Birmingham and Henley in Arden Railway		   Terminus

Accidents

Several accidents have taken place at both the original and present stations at Henley:[8]

  • On 4 September 1899, at the original branch line station, a passenger train with four passengers on board, was approaching the station on the descending gradient, it failed to slow down, and crashed through the buffers at the end of the station; the locomotive and first coach then came to rest in a nearby meadow. The engine crew jumped off before the accident, the four passengers were on board the other coaches and were unhurt. The driver stated that the brakes failed to operate when he applied them.
  • On 24 June 1911, at the present station, an accident occurred when the signalman at Henley mistakenly believed that a train approaching the station was a local terminating train, and so set the points for the bay platform: in fact the train was the Wolverhampton to Bristol express. The express entered the bay at around 30 mph, despite the driver applying the emergency brakes, the train smashed through the buffers and overturned onto the up main line, demolishing a signal. The first two coaches were smashed, but were empty; nine of the 33 passengers on board were slightly injured. The driver and fireman were scalded when they returned to shut off the steam on the locomotive to prevent a boiler explosion.
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References
  1. "Henley-in-Arden - Original Station". Warwickshire Railways. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  2. MacDermot, E.T. (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. II: 1863-1921. Paddington: Great Western Railway. pp. 401, 607. OCLC 55853736.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. MacDermot 1931, pp. 441–2, 611, 613
  4. "Henley in Arden - North Warwickshire Railway". Warwickshire Railways.com. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  5. "Henley-in-Arden Station 1908 - Present". Rail around Birmingham. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  6. "Henley-in-Arden station's weather delayed improvements begin". BBC News. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  7. Table 71 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  8. Boynton, John (1994). Shakespeare's Railways. Mid England Books. ISBN 0-9522248-1-X.

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