Worcester Foregate Street railway station

Worcester Foregate Street, opened by the Great Western Railway in 1860,^[1] is one of two railway stations that serve the city of Worcester, England; the other is Worcester Shrub Hill, which is located to the east. A third station, Worcestershire Parkway, is sited just outside of the city to the south-east. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway, who also operate services along with Great Western Railway.

Worcester Foregate Street
One of the station entrances.
General information
Location	Worcester, City of Worcester England
Grid reference	SO849552
Managed by	West Midlands Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	WOF
Classification	DfT category C2
Passengers
2019/20	2.191 million
Interchange	0.569 million
2020/21	0.535 million
Interchange	86,385
2021/22	1.358 million
Interchange	0.256 million
2022/23	1.583 million
Interchange	0.460 million
2023/24	1.748 million
Interchange	0.134 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

A 1910 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in Worcester

The station opened on 17 May 1860. It was originally part of the Hereford and Worcester Railway which was incorporated into the West Midland Railway, before being absorbed by the Great Western Railway. On 1 January 1948, the company became Government owned under British Railways. The Butts Spur line was also constructed in 1860 with the unfulfilled aim of connecting the station to Diglis for the conveyance of freight.

Since 1973, the station has had an unusual layout; it is essentially two single-track lines side by side rather than the ordinary double-track layout which it appears to be. The two single lines run from Henwick, on the other side of the River Severn, through Foregate Street, to the site of the former Rainbow Hill Junction to the east of the station, which used to provide a crossover between the two tracks. At this point, the lines diverge with that on the north side heading towards Tunnel Junction and Droitwich Spa, while the southern track leads to Worcester Shrub Hill. Rainbow Hill Junction was removed when the signalling in the area was remodelled in 1973.

The station celebrated its 150th birthday on 23 May 2010, with the unveiling of a plaque and a special train, which celebrated its 150th anniversary on the same date.^[2] that ran to Great Malvern^[3]

The art gallery movement opened on platform 2 on 2 October 2010.^[4]

Interior of refurbished station (2014)

The station was upgraded in 2014, which included a refurbished subway, two new entrances with automatic doors, relocation of the lift at the second entrance to be enclosed in the station building and conversion of one of the railway arches into a bike shelter. The bridge was also strengthened and repainted.

Until May 2022, Great Western Railway ran limited services to Southampton Central and Brighton.^[5][6][7]

Layout

Sign warning of two-way working at the western end of the station

The station layout is unusual in that travelling east the two platforms serve different routes, rather than different directions. Platform 1 can only be accessed by trains via Worcester Shrub Hill (including trains to and from London Paddington and via Cheltenham Spa towards the south-west), while platform 2 can only be accessed from the east by trains running directly to and from Droitwich Spa, avoiding Shrub Hill. Signs at the station warn of "Two-way working on both lines".^[8][9]

Similar examples of this type of layout can be found at Glenrothes with Thornton in Fife and Bare Lane in Lancashire. This means that Great Western Railway services can only stop at platform 1, as all of these trains stop at Shrub Hill.

The station itself is built on a viaduct, meaning that space for expansion is restricted, but the platforms are nevertheless of ample length to accommodate a High Speed Train. Despite its small size, the remains of two signal boxes can be seen: one spanning the tracks and the second is now the station cafe, called Cafe Loco, at the end of platform 1.

Services

Map of railways around Worcester

The station is served by two train operating companies:

• West Midlands Trains operates services to Birmingham via two different routes, either to Birmingham New Street via Bromsgrove or to Birmingham Snow Hill via Kidderminster. There is an hourly service between Hereford and New Street and two trains per hour (three at peak times) to Birmingham Snow Hill, with many of the latter running beyond to either Stratford-upon-Avon or Dorridge; some also originate/terminate at Great Malvern or Whitlocks End on this route.^[10]

• Great Western Railway operates a regular service to London Paddington, via the Cotswold Line and Oxford. It also runs a service to Bristol Temple Meads, via Gloucester, with extensions through to Salisbury and Weymouth; these mainly start/terminate here, with only a limited service beyond to or from Great Malvern.^[11]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Malvern Link		West Midlands Railway Hereford - Great Malvern - Worcester - Bromsgrove - Birmingham		Droitwich Spa
				Worcester Shrub Hill
Terminus		West Midlands Railway Worcester - Kidderminster - Birmingham - Dorridge - Stratford		Droitwich Spa
Malvern Link		Great Western Railway Cotswold Line		Worcester Shrub Hill
Malvern Link		Great Western Railway Worcester to Bristol		Worcester Shrub Hill
	Disused railways
Henwick Line open, station closed		Great Western Railway Worcester and Hereford Railway		Worcester Shrub Hill Line and station open

See also

v t e Railway lines in Worcestershire
Legend
Kidderminster line to Birmingham Snow Hill Cross-City Line to Birmingham New Street Hagley Birmingham–Stratford line to Birmingham Moor Street Wythall Blakedown Birmingham–Stratford line to Stratford-upon-Avon Barnt Green Kidderminster Town Kidderminster Blackwell Alvechurch Foley Park Halt Lickey Incline Bewdley Tunnel Redditch Rifle Range Halt Stourport-on-Severn Gloucester loop line via Alcester Hartlebury Bromsgrove Bewdley Cutnall Green Halt Stoke Works Northwood Halt Droitwich Spa Junction Wyre Forest Droitwich Spa Arley Newnham Bridge Fernhill Heath Severn Valley Railway to Bridgnorth Blackpole Halt Easton Court Astwood Halt Tenbury and Bewdley Railway to Woofferton Droitwich Road Worcester Tunnel Junction Dunhampstead Worcester TMD Oddingley Spetchley Vinegar works Worcester Shrub Hill Worcester Foregate Street Norton Worcestershire Parkway Stoulton former freight branch Pershore River Severn Abbot's Wood Junction Wyre Halt Henwick Fladbury Boughton Halt Wadborough Rushwick Halt Defford Leigh Court Eckington Knightwick Bredon Bransford Road Gloucester loop line via Alcester Suckley Harvington Worcester, Bromyard & Leominster Rly to Leominster Evesham Newland Halt Bengeworth Malvern Link Hinton Great Malvern Ashton-under-Hill Malvern Hanley Road Beckford Upton-on-Severn Littleton and Badsey Ripple Honeybourne Malvern Wells Cotswold Line to Hereford Honeybourne Line to Stratford-upon-Avon Ashchurch for Tewkesbury Cotswold Line to Oxford Cross Country Route to Cheltenham Spa Broadway Gloucestershire Warwickshire Rly to Cheltenham Racecourse

• Worcester Shrub Hill railway station
• Worcester (Norton) Parkway railway station