Worcestershire Parkway station opened on Sunday, delivering increased connectivity to London, the Midlands and South Wales.
History was made when Great Western Railway’s service to London Paddington made the first call at the station at 08.28.
The station is Worcestershire’s first brand-new station in more than 100 years and forms part of a wider £50million-plus rail investment programme in the county.
Construction began in 2018 and Worcestershire Parkway is built to serve both the North Cotswolds Line and Cardiff to Nottingham route.
This work has provided:
- a 500-space car park (including disabled parking) designed to current standards in terms of lighting, CCTV, ticketing, customer facilities and information points
- a fully-accessible modern station building with toilets and a ticket desk
- a single platform on the North Cotswolds Line and two platforms on the Cardiff to Nottingham route that are fully accessible
- secure cycle storage, motorcycle parking and electric car charging points
- direct access to local bus services through a bus/rail interchange
- taxi rank and drop off/pick up point
- a new roundabout providing access to the station from the B4084
- a new footbridge for the public right of way over the Cardiff to Nottingham route
GWR’s Interim Managing Director, Matthew Golton, said:
“Worcestershire Parkway is the first brand-new mainline railway station to open in Worcestershire in more 100 years, which is really exciting news.
“It will be served by Great Western Railway and CrossCountry trains, with more than 60 services calling each day. There will be direct trains to London in under two hours, and services to Cardiff and Nottingham, through the centre of Worcester and on to Hereford.
“This station is going to make a real difference to Worcestershire and its connectivity within the UK.”
Worcestershire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy and Infrastructure, Cllr Ken Pollock, said:
“The station is set to transform rail travel to and from the county and, not only that, it looks great too. I’d like to thank all those involved in making this station, which has been talked about for more than 30 years, a reality. Without the county council’s ambition for this station to be built to better serve our residents and businesses, the station would not exist."
Great Western Railway services will operate between Hereford/Great Malvern/Worcester, and the Thames Valley and London Paddington via stations including Pershore, Evesham, Oxford and Reading. CrossCountry services will operate between Cardiff and Nottingham.