Cheltenham Spa Malvern Road railway station
Encyclopedia
History
The station was opened by the Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
on 30 March 1908, as Cheltenham Malvern Road. It was provided so that trains along the line to would not have to start and terminate at , which involved a reversal. The station took its name from the road to the north from which a long driveway provided the main means of public access. Unlike the other stations on the line, Malvern Road had a single island platform
Island platform
An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...
, 860 feet (262.1 m) long on the Up side and 702 feet (214 m) on the Down side, which was reached by means of a covered footbridge leading from the booking office. The platform served both main running lines, together with a bay
Bay platform
Bay platform is a railway-related term commonly used in the UK and Australia to describe a dead-end platform at a railway station that has through lines...
at the north end into which local branch railmotor
GWR steam rail motors
The steam rail motors were self-propelled carriages operated by the Great Western Railway in England and Wales from 1903 to 1935. They incorporated a steam locomotive within the body of the carriage.-History:...
services to and from reversed before returning to the St. James
Cheltenham Spa St. James railway station
-History:The first station was opened by the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway on 23 October 1847, as Cheltenham. It was the terminus of the final section of that company's line from a junction with the Great Western Railway at , which had opened in stages: to on 31 May 1841; to on 12...
terminus, which was much closer to Cheltenham town centre. Malvern Road did not have a resident stationmaster, and it was placed under the responsibility of the St. James stationmaster who also took charge of and stations. Stone from the Cleeve Hill
Cleeve Hill
Cleeve Hill is the highest point both in the Cotswolds hill range and in the county of Gloucestershire, at . It commands a clear view to the west, over Cheltenham and the racecourse, over the River Severn and into Wales; and to the north over Winchcombe. It is a conspicuous outcrop on the edge of...
quarries was used in the station buildings, while the platform copings
Coping (architecture)
Coping , consists of the capping or covering of a wall.A splayed or wedge coping slopes in a single direction; a saddle coping slopes to either side of a central high point....
were sourced from Pontypridd
Pontypridd
Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...
.
Regular through services from Birmingham
Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England, on the site of an earlier, much larger station built by the former Great Western Railway . It is the second most important railway station in the city, after Birmingham New Street station...
to the West of England
West of England
The West of England is a loose and locationally unspecific term sometimes given to the area surrounding the city and county of Bristol, England, and also sometimes applied more widely and in other parts of South West England.-Use in the Bristol area:...
via Stratford
Stratford-upon-Avon railway station
Stratford-upon-Avon railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. It was once a through station on the Great Western Railway route from Birmingham to Cheltenham, but has been the terminus of the line since 1976.There are plans for a new...
and Malvern Road commenced on 1 July 1908 upon the opening of the North Warwickshire Line. These services covered the distance in just over 2½ hours, but did not run to St. James to which a connecting service was provided by Honeybourne locals or the services to and . By April 1910, The Cornishman express
Express train
Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...
was calling at Malvern Road as part of its Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton Low Level railway station
Wolverhampton Low Level was a railway station on Sun Street, in Springfield, Wolverhampton, England .It was built by the Great Western Railway, on their route from London to Birkenhead via Birmingham...
to service. The suspension of long-distance services for a period towards the end of the First World War led to the temporary closure of Malvern Road as an economy measure between 1 January 1917 and 7 July 1919. Not long after reopening, the station was renamed Cheltenham Spa Malvern Road on 1 February 1925.
To the west of Malvern Road lay several loop sidings
Rail siding
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end...
serving a two-road engine shed
Engine shed
Engine shed may refer to:* Engine shed, also called a motive power depot or roundhouse, a structure used for the maintenance of railway locomotives.* Engine Shed , a music and entertainment venue on the University of Lincoln's campus....
and coaling stage. Access to these facilities was controlled by two signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
es - Malvern Road East to the north, and Malvern Road West to the south. The East box was opened on 15 July 1906 and had 49 levers; it had replaced the Bayshill signal box which had controlled access to a locomotive shed demolished when the line was extended to Honeybourne. The West box was open by June 1908 and had 37 levers; it replaced a temporary box dating from August 1906. The station saw very little goods traffic as most were handled at St. James; a 15-ton weighbridge was nevertheless provided in the yard.
High-speed services between Bristol and Birmingham on the Birmingham to Gloucester line
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway is a railway route linking Birmingham to Gloucester in England.It is one of the world's oldest main line railways and includes the famous Lickey Incline, a dead-straight stretch of track running up the 1-in-37 gradient of the Lickey Ridge...
led to a decline in traffic on the Honeybourne line which closed to local passenger services from 7 March 1960. Malvern Road closed on 3 January 1966 to goods and passengers. The Cheltenham to Honeybourne stretch remained open for occasional freight traffic until 25 August 1976 when the derailment of a coal train at caused damage to the Down line which was considered uneconomic to repair. Malvern Road West Signal Box had closed on 5 June 1966, with the East Signal Box lasting until 3 November 1970.
Present day
, the site is completely levelled and still free from re-development. A long-term goal of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire RailwayGloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway is a volunteer-run heritage railway on the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire/Warwickshire Borders that has reopened the closed railway line between Laverton Halt and Cheltenham Racecourse railway stations in Gloucestershire/Worcestershire., it currently...
is to extend their services towards the present station at Cheltenham Spa (Lansdown)
Cheltenham Spa railway station
Cheltenham Spa railway station is in Gloucestershire, England, on the Bristol-Birmingham main line. It is managed by First Great Western and is about one mile from the town centre.-History:...
(with the intention of offering interchange with rail services on the Cross Country Route), which would involve passing the site of Malvern Road.