Berkswell railway station


Berkswell railway station, in the West Midlands of England, takes its name from the nearby village of Berkswell although it is located on the northern edge of the small town of Balsall Common. The station originally opened as Docker's Lane, changed to Berkswell on 1 January 1853, then to Berkswell & Balsall Common on 1 February 1928 before reverting to Berkswell again. It is situated on the West Coast Main Line between Coventry and Birmingham, specifically between the stations of Tile Hill and Hampton-in-Arden. The station and all trains serving it are operated by West Midlands Railway, while Avanti West Coast pass through the station without stopping. There are small lakes and a river on the Eastern side of the railway station.

History

In 2004, as part of a plan to upgrade the line to carry more high speed trains, the level crossing situated to the east of the station was removed and two small low parallel tunnels were built under the railway, one for road traffic and the other for pedestrians. The road tunnel, being too narrow for two-way traffic, is controlled by traffic lights. The level crossings at Tile Hill and Canley were also removed in the upgrade.
Berkswell was once the junction with a line that ran to Kenilworth, which opened on 2 March 1884 and closed to all traffic on 3 March 1969. The trackbed of this line is gradually being converted into a "Greenway" for walking, cycling, and horse-riding. The route for the proposed High Speed 2 line will lie broadly parallel to this greenway, thus necessitating its realignment through and north-west of the village of Burton Green. A length of track of the Kenilworth line survives as a siding. It was occasionally used for stabling the Royal Train.

Services

On Mondays to Saturdays, Berkswell is served by two trains per hour off peak to Birmingham New Street and London Euston. Some services terminate or start from and there are extra calls at peak times. On Sundays there is an hourly service between Birmingham New Street and Euston via Northampton.