Hednesford railway station

Hednesford railway station serves the town of Hednesford in Staffordshire, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by West Midlands Railway.

Hednesford
LocationHednesford, Cannock Chase
England
Coordinates52.710°N 2.002°W / 52.710; -2.002
Grid referenceSJ999124
Managed byWest Midlands Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeHNF
ClassificationDfT category F1
Key dates
1859Opened
18 January 1965Closed to passengers
6 September 1965Closed to goods traffic
10 April 1989Reopened to passengers
Passengers
2015/16 0.167 million
2016/17 0.179 million
2017/18 0.160 million
2018/19 0.174 million
2019/20 0.175 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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. 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.

There is no ticket office so the Penalty fare scheme operates at the station, and passengers must buy a ticket or permit to travel from the machines at the station to avoid paying the £20 surcharge.[2]

Hednesford is the only station not located in the West Midlands to be part of the West Midlands Trains free 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 Cannock, Landywood and Rugeley do not operate in the same zone.

Services

Service frequencies vary. On weekdays there are typically two trains per hour to Walsall and Birmingham at peak times and one train per hour during the off peak period and in the evenings. There are two trains per hour throughout the day on Saturdays with an hourly evening service. Trains operate between Birmingham New Street and Rugeley Trent Valley where connections to Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe are available.[3]

On Sundays there is an hourly service throughout the day after 10:00. Most services are operated by Class 350 electric trains and journey times are typically 21 minutes to Walsall and 45 minutes to Birmingham New Street. A small number of services to/from London Euston, Birmingham New Street or Walsall start or terminate here.

References
  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. West Midlands Railway Penalty Fares West Midlands Railway; Retrieved 7 April 2019
  3. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 70 (Network Rail)

Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
West Midlands Railway
Chase Line
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