Ledbury railway station
Ledbury  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Ledbury |
| Local authority | Herefordshire |
| Coordinates | 52°02′42″N 2°25′30″W / 52.045°N 2.425°WCoordinates: 52°02′42″N 2°25′30″W / 52.045°N 2.425°W |
| Grid reference | SO709386 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | LED |
| Managed by | London Midland |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| DfT category | E |
|
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2004/05 | 0.130 million |
| 2005/06 |
 0.135 million |
| 2006/07 |
0.147 million |
| 2007/08 |
0.163 million |
| 2008/09 |
0.182 million |
| 2009/10 |
0.184 million |
| 2010/11 |
0.189 million |
| 2011/12 |
0.194 million |
| 2012/13 |
 0.186 million |
| 2013/14 |
0.195 million |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ledbury from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
 UK Railways portal | |
Ledbury railway station is a railway station on the outskirts of the town of Ledbury on the Worcester to Hereford line in the English Midlands. It has regular services to Birmingham plus several direct trains a day to London Paddington.
History
The line was originally built by the West Midland Railway who opened Ledbury station on 15 September 1861. A branch line from Ledbury to Gloucester, via Dymock and Newent opened in July 1885 for which a new signal box was opened at Ledbury replacing one or perhaps two earlier signal boxes and controlling a small engine shed on the north side of the station and a goods yard on the south.
The Newent branch was closed in 1959, and the goods yard and engine shed closed in 1965, leaving just the station itself. The modern station comprises two platforms with waiting shelters and car parking facilities, the station is unusual in having a privately run ticket office located in a wooden chalet by the entrance.
Today
The station is the only section of double track, where trains travelling in opposite directions can pass each other, between Shelwick Junction, near Hereford and the East portal of Colwall New Tunnel beneath the Malvern Hills at the former Malvern Wells station and near to Great Malvern.
The single-track Ledbury Tunnel, immediately to the east of the station, was notorious among steam locomotive crews for its bad atmosphere, the result of its unusually narrow bore combined with a steep gradient and a bend at the north end.
The station was featured in episode six of the second series of Great British Railway Journeys broadcast on 10 January 2011, in which Michael Portillo travels from Ledbury to Shrewsbury.
Services
Ledbury has a passenger service every day except Christmas Day & Boxing day (25 & 26 December), Monday to Saturday this service comprises typically one train per hour in each direction between Birmingham New Street and Hereford, with extra trains in the morning and evening peaks on weekdays. Some early morning and late evening trains start/terminate at Worcester Shrub Hill instead of Birmingham New Street. This service is reduced to a 2-hourly service on Sundays. These trains are operated by London Midland.[1]
There are also five trains each way, each weekday between Hereford and London Paddington that call at Ledbury. This is reduced to four trains each way on Saturdays and five northbound and four southbound trains per day on Sunday afternoons. All trains to London are operated by First Great Western.[2]
References
External links
- Train times and station information for Ledbury railway station from National Rail
- Ledbury Station - an independent ticketing and information service based at the station
- Cotswold Line Promotion Group
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hereford | London Midland Birmingham-Hereford |
Colwall | ||
| London Midland Dorridge-Hereford |
||||
| Great Western Railway Cotswold Line |
||||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Ashperton | Great Western Railway Worcester and Hereford Railway |
Colwall | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Ledbury Town Halt | Great Western Railway Ledbury and Gloucester Railway |
Terminus | ||