History to be made with opening of Worcestershire Parkway station

Worcestershire Parkway station opens on Sunday, delivering increased connectivity to London, the Midlands and South Wales.

History will be made when Great Western Railway’s service to London Paddington makes the first call at the station at 08.28.


Grand designs: Worcestershire Parkway station opens on Sunday Picture: WCC

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 will all be 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

Increased connectivity: Tom Pierpoint alongside the North Cotswolds Line at Worcestershire Parkway

Tom Pierpoint, GWR’s Interim Commercial Development Director, said:

“We know this station has been a long-held ambition for the people of Worcestershire and we have been pleased to work alongside the county council and our rail industry partners to ensure the delivery of this impressive new facility.

“Worcestershire Parkway will benefit from the changes introduced in our December timetable. Customers travelling on one of our new Intercity Express Trains will enjoy a fastest journey time of one hour 49 minutes from Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington, and 53 minutes to Hereford.”
 

Bird’s-eye view: Worcestershire Parkway station, which includes 500 car-parking spaces Picture: WCC

Cllr Ken Pollock, Worcestershire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Economy and Infrastructure, 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.

Notes to editors

Great Western Railway (GWR) provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services. We help over 100 million passengers reach their destinations every year - across South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, and large parts of Southern England.

We’re currently seeing the biggest investment in the network since Brunel so we can offer more trains, more seats, and shorter, more frequent journeys and continue the network’s heritage of helping connect more businesses to new and prosperous markets. Through a series of initiatives we aim to be a good neighbour to the communities we serve and are committed to making a positive social impact in those regions. Learn how we're Building a Greater West at GWR.com. GWR is a FirstGroup company.