Chester Road railway station

Chester Road railway station serves the areas of Pype Hayes, Erdington and Wylde Green in north-east Birmingham, in the West Midlands county of England. It is sited on the Cross-City Line between Bromsgrove/Redditch and Lichfield Trent Valley, via Birmingham New Street. Pedestrian access to the station is via Green Lanes, near to the junction with the Chester Road (A452). It is above road level, as the line here is on an embankment.

Chester Road
Chester Road station, looking northbound towards Wylde Green.
General information
Location	Wylde Green, Birmingham England
Coordinates	52.535°N 1.832°W / 52.535; -1.832
Grid reference	SP114931
Managed by	West Midlands Railway
Transit authority	Transport for West Midlands
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	CRD
Fare zone	3
Classification	DfT category E
History
Original company	London and North Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 December 1863 (1863-12-01)	Station opened
Passengers
2019/20	1.050 million
2020/21	0.152 million
2021/22	0.390 million
2022/23	0.489 million
2023/24	0.593 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The line from Aston to Sutton Coldfield was built by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) in 1862, although Chester Road station was not opened until 1 December 1863.^[1][2] The LNWR became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1921, as part of the Grouping, which was nationalised to become part of British Railways at the beginning of 1948. The station booking office and waiting room were rebuilt in 1991-1992 during the electrification of the line. The original LNWR station waiting room was dismantled, and moved to Market Bosworth, another former LNWR station, on the preserved Battlefield Line Railway.^[3]

In 2019 as part of the West Midlands Railway branding of the railway stations they manage, Chester Road station was among the stations given orange lampposts and railings. This received a lukewarm response from many locals, the local MP Andrew Mitchell and the leader of Sutton Coldfield Town Council, Simon Ward.^[4]

Facilities

Chester Road is a park and ride station, and has a free car park which was expanded in May 2006.

There is a ticket office on platform 2, with a ticket machine opposite as well as a ticket machine before platform 1.

There is a shelter on both platforms with seating areas.

A view of the platforms, looking southbound towards Erdington.

The station's ticket machine and ticket office, located on Platform 2.

Access for disabled passengers

There are ramps providing step-free access to both platforms at Chester Road.

Chester Road has been classified as a step-free access category B1 station. This means that there is step-free access to all platforms, but that this may include long or steep ramps, as is the case here.^[5]

Services

A Centro livery West Midlands Railway Class 323 at the station in 2023

The station is currently served by West Midlands Trains with local Transport for West Midlands branded "Cross-City" services, operated using Class 730 Electric multiple units (EMUs).^[6]

Usual off-peak services at Chester Road follow a pattern such as the one below:

Services are listed in trains per hour (tph)

Mondays to Saturdays:

• 4 tph northbound to Four Oaks via Sutton Coldfield, departing from Platform 1.
  • 2 tph continue to Lichfield Trent Valley via Lichfield City.
• 4 tph southbound to Longbridge via Birmingham New Street and University, departing from Platform 2.
  • 2 tph continue to Redditch via Alvechurch, calling at all stations.
  • 2 tph continue to Bromsgrove calling at all stations except Duddeston, 1tph does not call at Barnt Green.

Sundays:

• 2 tph northbound to Lichfield Trent Valley.
• 2 tph southbound to Redditch.

Services on Sundays call at all stations between Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch.

The average journey time to Birmingham New Street is around 16 minutes.^[7][8]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Wylde Green		West Midlands Railway Lichfield – Four Oaks – Birmingham – Bromsgrove/Redditch Cross-City Line		Erdington