Gravelly Hill railway station

Gravelly Hill
National Rail
Gravelly Hill station
General information
LocationGravelly Hill, Birmingham
England
Coordinates52°30′54″N 1°51′11″W / 52.515°N 1.853°W / 52.515; -1.853
Grid referenceSP100908
Managed byWest Midlands Railway
Transit authorityTransport for West Midlands
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeGVH
Fare zone2
ClassificationDfT category E
Key dates
1862Opened
1992Electrification
Passengers
2019/20Increase 0.912 million
2020/21Decrease 0.138 million
2021/22Increase 0.279 million
2022/23Increase 0.357 million
2023/24Increase 0.384 million
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Gravelly Hill railway station is a station below the surrounding ground level and can be accessed by a staircase or ramp to reach the platforms. It serves the Gravelly Hill area of Birmingham, England. It is situated on the Redditch/Bromsgrove-Birmingham New Street-Four Oaks-Lichfield Cross-City Line.

History

Opened in 1862, the station was built by the London and North Western (LNWR) railway company on their line between Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield.[1] The only remaining original feature is the booking office building, which is unusual in having 2 storeys, and having access to the ticket office via the upper level.[1] Other buildings and an early wooden footbridge were removed with the electrification of the Cross City line in 1992 by British Rail. The waiting areas on the platforms were replaced by modern "bus shelter" type structures on each platform. The footbridge was replaced by a modern metal structure.

Facilities

Access for disabled passengers

There are ramps providing step-free access to both platforms and to the ticket office from the Hunton Hill entrance to the station.[2]

Gravelly Hill 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.[3]

Services

The station is served by West Midlands Trains with local Transport for West Midlands branded "Cross-City" services, operated using Class 323 Electric multiple units (EMUs)[4] until September 2024 and currently by Class 730 EMUs.[5]

The off-peak service pattern is as follows:

Mondays to Saturdays:

Sundays:

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

Services on Sundays call at all stations between Lichfield T.V. and Redditch.

The average journey time to Birmingham New Street is around 11 minutes.[6][7]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Aston
towards Bromsgrove or Redditch
West Midlands Railway Erdington

References

  1. ^ a b Andrew Doherty. "Gravelly Hill Station". Rail Around Birmingham. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  2. ^ Disabled Persons Protection Policy. London Midland. November 2007. p. 13. Archived from the original on 26 November 2010.
  3. ^ "Gravelly Hill Train Station". West Midlands Railway.
  4. ^ "Class 323 fleet". West Midlands Railway.
  5. ^ "Class 730 fleet". West Midlands Railway.
  6. ^ "Train Timetables and Schedules | Gravelly Hill". West Midlands Railway.
  7. ^ "Train Times | The Cross City Line | 30 December 2023 until 1 June 2024". West Midlands Railway.
  • An Historical Survey Of Selected LMS Stations Vol. One Dr R Preston and R Powell Hendry. Oxford Pub. Co. (1982, Reprinted in 2001) ISBN 0-86093-168-4