Hednesford railway station

Hednesford railway station serves the market town of Hednesford in Staffordshire, England. The station forms a part of the Chase Line and is operated by West Midlands Railway.

Hednesford
National Rail
General information
LocationHednesford, Cannock Chase
England
Coordinates52°42′36″N 2°00′07″W / 52.710°N 2.002°W / 52.710; -2.002
Grid referenceSJ999124
Managed byWest Midlands Railway
Line(s)Chase Line
Platforms2
Tracks2
Construction
ParkingFree (58 spaces)
AccessibleBoth platforms
Other information
StatusUnstaffed
Station codeHNF
Fare zoneWest Midlands Zone 5
ClassificationDfT category F1
Websitehttps://www.westmidlandsrailway.co.uk/stations/hednesford
History
Opened1859, 10 April 1989 (1989-04-10) (reopened to passengers)
Closed18 January 1965 (1965-01-18) (to passengers), 6 September 1965 (1965-09-06) (to goods traffic)
ElectrifiedDecember 2018
Original companyCannock Mineral Railway
Passengers
2019/20Increase 0.175 million
2020/21Decrease 32,838
2021/22Increase 0.153 million
2022/23Increase 0.192 million
2023/24Increase 0.254 million
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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The station was opened in 1859 on the Cannock Mineral Railway's line from Cannock to Rugeley Town and taken over by the London and North Western Railway a decade later[1] (though the LNWR had worked the line from the outset). It closed to passengers on 18 January 1965 and to goods traffic on 6 September the same year as a result of the Beeching Axe, though the line that passed through remained in use for goods & mineral traffic, serving the power station at Rugeley and various local collieries.

The station reopened in 1989 by British Rail, as the terminus of the first stage of the reopening of the Chase Line from Walsall to passenger trains.[2] At first, there was just a single platform (the current Walsall-bound one); however when services were extended to Rugeley Town in 1997, a second platform was added.[3]

Facilities

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There is no ticket office, so the Penalty fare scheme operates at the station, and passengers must buy a ticket from the machines at the station to avoid paying the £100 surcharge.[4] Hednesford's ticket machine is card-only,[citation needed] so passengers who only have cash must instead present themselves to the onboard conductor at the earliest opportunity.[4]

The station features a 58-space free car park located on Anglesey Street.[5] The car park is open all day Monday-Sunday with a 2.10m height restriction.[6] Additionally, there is also a 180-space free car park on Anglesey Street operated by Cannock Chase District Council.[7] The car park has 2.25m height restriction and a 4 hour maximum stay between the hours of 08:00-15:00 Monday-Saturday however some long stay bays are available denoted by blue lines.[7]

Hednesford is the only station not located in the West Midlands to be part of the West Midlands Trains concessionary travel zone, situated in Zone 5 of the West Midlands railway network. It has been in place since the introduction of the scheme but is the only station to operate this scheme, as similar stations Cannock, Landywood, and Rugeley Town do not operate in the same zone.[8]

Services

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Services towards Birmingham International can usually be accessed from platform 1 and services towards Rugeley Trent Valley can usually be accessed from platform 2.

Most services are operated by Class 350 electric trains and journey times are typically 19 minutes to Walsall and 42 minutes to Birmingham New Street.

Some services to/from London Euston used to serve the station. Some services towards Birmingham New Street or Walsall start or terminate here.

Frequency

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From Monday-Saturday throughout the daytime, the station typically sees 2 trains-per-hour in both directions. On Sundays this is reduced to just 1 train-per-hour in both directions.

Service Frequency According to the 2 June - 14 December 2024 Timetable[9]
Platform 1 Platform 2
Days Start End tph Destination Start End tph Destination
Monday-Friday 06:12 23:10 2 Birmingham International 06:08 00:09 2 Rugeley Trent Valley
Monday-Saturday 06:12 23:03 2 Birmingham International 06:05 23:12 2 Rugeley Trent Valley
Sunday 10:00 23:00 1 Birmingham International 09:26 23:25 1 Rugeley Trent Valley

Connections

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Connections to Stafford, Crewe, London and stations on the Trent Valley Line are available at Rugeley Trent Valley along with connections to stations along the West Coast Main Line from Birmingham New Street.

History

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Some services to/from London Euston used to serve the station. Some services towards Birmingham New Street or Walsall start or terminate here.

Bus Connections

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Hednesford no longer has a bus station, although there is an interchange on Victoria Street acting as a hub to locations such as Cannock, Rugeley, Lichfield and Pye Green. All services are run by Chaserider and Select Bus. No buses operate on Sunday.

References

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  1. ^ Cannock Chase History - Railways Stations around Cannock Chase Archived 13 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine www.cannockchasehistory.org; retrieved 2013-08-30
  2. ^ "History of Walsall's train station". Walsall Borough Council. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  3. ^ David, Gareth (7 August 2019). "Chase Line re-born". RailwayWorld.net. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b West Midlands Railway Penalty Fares Archived 7 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine West Midlands Railway; retrieved 7 April 2019
  5. ^ "Hednesford Train Station | Trains to Hednesford". West Midlands Railway. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Hednesford Station - Car Park". en.parkopedia.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Anglesey Street - Car Park". en.parkopedia.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Rail concessionary map" (PDF). West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive. June 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  9. ^ Train times - Rugeley to Birmingham New Street via Walsall. West Midlands Railway. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
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Preceding station     National Rail   Following station
Rugeley Town   West Midlands Railway
Rugeley - Walsall - Birmingham
  Cannock