Duddeston railway station

Duddeston
Duddeston station
General information
Location	Duddeston, Birmingham England
Coordinates	52.488°N 1.871°W / 52.488; -1.871
Grid reference	SP088878
Managed by	West Midlands Railway
Transit authority	Transport for West Midlands
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	DUD
Fare zone	2
Classification	DfT category E
Key dates
1837	Opened as Vauxhall station
1869	Rebuilt and reopened
1889	renamed Vauxhall and Duddeston
6 May 1974	renamed Duddeston
Passengers
2019/20	0.408 million
2020/21	0.116 million
2021/22	0.242 million
2022/23	0.385 million
2023/24	0.382 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Duddeston railway station serves the Duddeston area of Birmingham, England. It is sited on the Cross-City Line between Bromsgrove and Redditch in the south and Four Oaks and Lichfield Trent Valley in the north and the Chase Line between Birmingham International and Rugeley Trent Valley. Both lines run towards Birmingham New Street in the southbound direction.

History

Vauxhall station in 1837

Duddeston opened in 1837 as Vauxhall, the temporary Birmingham terminus of the Grand Junction Railway from Warrington.[1]: 12  When the permanent terminus at Curzon Street opened in 1839, Vauxhall became a goods-only station. An extract from an 1859 railway inspector's report into a minor collision reveals something of how the station was operated:[2]

There are sidings on both sides of the main line, and the station being on a curve, and the view interrupted by buildings, it is necessary to have a series of signalmen at short intervals for the protection of the switches and crossings connected with the main line

One of these signalmen (for the protection of the down line), when he had any shunting to do, had to warn a signalman on his right by turning on a disc signal; and he had also to work the arm of a semaphore signal on the Birmingham side of the station to stop all down trains on the main line.

The station was rebuilt and re-opened to passengers in 1869 under the LNWR and was renamed Vauxhall and Duddeston in 1889.

In 1941 it was hit by a bomb during a night raid and was destroyed. It was rebuilt in a temporary fashion, and in the mid-1950s it caught fire and was subsequently rebuilt.

The line through the station, to Walsall via Perry Barr, was electrified in 1966 as part of the London Midland Region's electrification programme.[3] The actual energization of the line from Coventry to Walsall through Perry Barr took place on 15 August 1966.[4]

The station was renamed Duddeston on 6 May 1974.[5]

The entrance and ticket hall are over the tracks, on the Duddeston Mill Road bridge. The former Midland Railway line to Derby is nearby.

Adjacent are railway sheds that were once used for industrial purposes. They are now disused and the entrance has been blocked to prevent trespassing. A shed on the opposite side of the station to the remaining sheds has been demolished and its site is wasteland. The station has two island platforms serving four tracks, but only one island platform and two tracks remain in use; the others have fallen into disrepair.

The remaining platform features artwork on black metal backgrounds.

Facilities

The station has a ticket office located on the concourse, though it is open from 08:00 to 10:00 on Mondays to Fridays only.[6] There is also a ticket machine on the concourse.[7]

In 2011, London Midland proposed the closure of the ticket office.[8] The request was denied.[9]

Services

Platform artwork and disused sheds

A London Midland Class 323 departs Duddeston with a service to Redditch in 2008

Duddeston is served by West Midlands Trains with services on both the Cross-City Line[10] and the Chase Line.[11][12] Cross-City services were operated using Class 323[13] until September 2024 and currently by Class 730 Electric multiple units (EMUs) while Chase Line services are operated using Class 350 and Class 730 EMUs.[14]

The typical service pattern is as follows:

Mondays to Saturdays

• 4 trains per hour (tph) northbound to Aston.
  • Of which:
    • 2 tph continue northbound to Four Oaks via Sutton Coldfield, calling at all stations Aston to Four Oaks, departing from Platform 1.
    • 2 tph continue to Walsall via Tame Bridge Parkway, calling at all stations Aston to Walsall, departing from Platform 1.

• 4 tph southbound to Birmingham New Street.
  • • Of which:
    • 2 tph continue southbound to Redditch via University and Longbridge, calling at all stations Five Ways to Redditch.
    • 2tph continue to Wolverhampton via Smethwick Galton Bridge, calling at all stations Smethwick Rolfe Street to Wolverhampton.

A limited number of trains continue past Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley, usually 2 trains per day on weekdays.

Sundays

• 2 tph northbound to Lichfield Trent Valley, calling at all stations.
• 2 tph southbound to Redditch, calling at all stations.
• 1 tph to Walsall, calling at all stations.
• 1 tph to Wolverhampton, calling at all stations.

The average journey time to Birmingham New Street is around 5 minutes.[15]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Aston		West Midlands Railway Lichfield – Four Oaks – Birmingham – Bromsgrove/Redditch Cross-City Line		Birmingham New Street
		West Midlands Railway Rugeley – Walsall – Birmingham – Wolverhampton Chase Line

References

1. Drake, James (1838). Drake's Road Book of the Grand Junction Railway (1838). Moorland Reprints. ISBN 0903485257.
2. Capt. George Ross (RE) (11 March 1859). Accident Returns: Extract for the Accident at Vauxhall on 26th January 1859. Board of Trade. p. 16.
3. Nock, O.S. (1966). Britain's New Railway. London: Ian Allan. pp. 147–159.
4. Gillham, J.C. (1988). The Age of the Electric Train - Electric trains in Britain since 1883. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 169.
5. Slater, J.N., ed. (July 1974). "Notes and News: Stations renamed by LMR". Railway Magazine. 120 (879). London: IPC Transport Press Ltd: 363. ISSN 0033-8923.
6. "Duddeston Train Station". West Midlands Railway.
7. "Duddeston station map". National Rail. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
8. "Proposed changes to ticket office opening hours". Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
9. "Rail ticket office cuts overruled". BBC News. 17 September 2012.
10. "Train Times | The Cross City Line | 30 December 2023 until 1 June 2024". West Midlands Railway.
11. "Train times | 10 December until 1 June 2024 | Rugeley to Birmingham New Street via Walsall". West Midlands Railway.
12. "Train times | 10 December 2023 until 1 June 2024 | Wolverhampton to Birmingham via Smethwick". West Midlands Railway.
13. "Class 323 fleet". West Midlands Railway.
14. "Class 730 fleet". West Midlands Railway.
15. "Train Timetables and Schedules | Duddeston". West Midlands Railway.

External links

• Train times and station information for Duddeston railway station from National Rail
• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Duddeston Station
• Warwickshire Railways page