Water Orton railway station serves Water Orton

Water Orton

Water Orton is a village near the River Tame in the North Warwickshire borough of Warwickshire in England. It is located between Castle Bromwich and Coleshill, and borders the West Midlands metropolitan county boundary to the north, west and south. At the last census in 2001, the population was...

 in Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

, near Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is owned by Network Rail

Network Rail

Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...

, and managed by London Midland

London Midland

London Midland is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Legally named London and Birmingham Railway Ltd, it is a subsidiary of Govia, and has operated the West Midlands franchise since 11 November 2007....

. However, no London Midland trains stop there; it is only served by CrossCountry

CrossCountry

CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...

 services.

History

It was first opened in 1842 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway

Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway

The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...

 on its line into Birmingham Lawley Street

Lawley Street railway station

Lawley Street railway station was opened in Birmingham in 1842 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway.The B&DJR had opened on 12 August 1839 with a line to Hampton, where it met the London and Birmingham Railway for passengers from Derby and the North East...

 from Whitacre Junction

Whitacre Junction railway station

Whitacre Junction railway station was opened in 1864 by the Midland Railway.The line had been opened in 1839 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway from Derby to Hampton-in-Arden joining the London and Birmingham Railway....

.

However the Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

 built a cutoff line from slightly further west to a junction at Kingsbury

Kingsbury railway station

Kingsbury railway station was a railway station which served the village of Kingsbury in Warwickshire, England.It was opened in 1839 with the building of the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway. The station closed in 1968. The station building has since been demolished, but the station master's...

 in 1909 and the station was resited. Although the distance saved was only a mile-and-a-quarter, the junctions at Water Orton and Kingsbury could be taken at a much higher speed than the original one at Whitacre.

An interesting side note is that a freak tornado in Birmingham in 1996 damaged the wooden staircase, rather than remove and replace the stairs, the damaged state was repaired in situ resulting in the zig zag appearance. Local residents approved of this and it was left as it is found today.

Services

Platform 1 is used for trains to Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

and Birmingham.
Platform 2 is used for trains to Derby, of which only one calls.

Services are mainly two hourly to Birmingham New Street and Leicester, with additional services in the peak.

There is one train a day Monday-Friday to Tamworth, Burton and Derby at 1750.

There is no Sunday service

External links

• Water Orton station at warwickshirerailways.com
• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Water Orton railway station