Leamington Spa railway station, situated on Old Warwick Road towards the southern edge of the centre of Leamington, is on the site of the first through station in the town, opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) on its new line from Birmingham to Oxford in 1852. The Royal Pump Rooms and Baths Leamington Spa, properly Royal Leamington Spa but commonly just Leamington, (pronounced Lemmington — IPA: ) is a spa town in central Warwickshire, in England. ... The original Bristol Temple Meads station, first terminus of the GWR, is the building to the left of this picture The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company, linking South West England, the West Country and South Wales with London. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

The London and North-Western Railway (LNWR) had reached Leamington eight years earlier, in 1844, with a branch from Coventry. That line, however, terminated about a mile and a half from the town centre, at Milverton, and the LNWR did not open a more central station until 1854 (see Leamington Avenue and Leamington Milverton stations below). The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was formed in 1846 by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham and Manchester and Birmingham. ... 1844 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre. ... 1854 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Leamington Spa railway station exterior

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2816x2112, 707 KB)Exterior view of Leamington Spa railway station. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2816x2112, 707 KB)Exterior view of Leamington Spa railway station. ...

The station today

Layout

The present station, which dates from immediately prior to the Second World War (it was comprehensively rebuilt in 1937–1939), has four platforms, numbered 1 to 4 from south to north. Platforms 1 and 4 are west-facing bays, used only by local trains to and from Birmingham (Snow Hill) or Stratford-upon-Avon starting or terminating at Leamington. Platforms 2 and 3 are through platforms: platform 2 is used by services to Stratford-upon-Avon, Birmingham (Snow Hill), or Coventry, Birmingham (New St), and beyond; platform 3 is for departures to Banbury and London (Marylebone) or Reading. Two central lines allow freight trains or other non-stop services to pass through the station when platforms 2 and 3 are occupied. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... A bay platform is a railway-related term commonly used in Britain to mean a dead-end platform at a railway station which otherwise consists exclusively (or predominately) of through platforms. ... The station entrance Birmingham Snow Hill station is a railway station located in the centre of Birmingham, England. ... Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon is a town in Warwickshire, England. ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre. ... The tracks approaching the station Birmingham New Street is a major railway station located in the centre of the city of Birmingham, England. ... The modern Castle Quay Shopping Centre in Banbury is built alongside the Oxford Canal Map sources for Banbury at grid reference SP4540 Banbury is a market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England. ... The main entrance to Marylebone station. ... Reading is a town and a unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) in the English county of Berkshire. ...

Routes

Three lines radiate from Leamington:

• One heading northwest to Birmingham by way of Warwick and Solihull — with a branch to Stratford-upon-Avon diverging at Hatton, some 6 miles from Leamington;
• One going north to Coventry;
• And one heading southeast towards Banbury, beyond which it splits into routes heading for London (Marylebone) and for Reading via Oxford.

Map sources for Warwick at grid reference SP2865 Warwick (pronounced warrick ) is the historic county town of Warwickshire in England and has a population of 25,434 (2001 census). ... Map sources for Solihull at grid reference SP1579 Solihull (IPA: , or , or some combination of the two; occasionally ) is a town in the West Midlands in England with a population of 198,000(2001 census). ... Hatton, Warwickshire Hatton is a village about 4 miles north of Warwick. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ...

Operators

• As of the current (11 December 2005 – 10 June 2006) timetable, Leamington station is served by three passenger train operators: Chiltern Railways, Virgin Trains, and Central Trains. Chiltern operates the station, which is owned by Network Rail.
• Although the station is operated by Chiltern Railways, the stabling rights belong to Central Trains. This unusual situation means that if Chiltern Railways wished to stable one of their trains at Leamington Spa (their station), they would have to ask Central Trains for permission to do so (and usually pay a substantial fee!)

A Chiltern Railways Clubman at Kidderminster station. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Central Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running local and cross-country trains in central England. ... Network Rails logo Network Rail is a British not for dividend company limited by guarantee that owns the fixed assets of that part of the British railway system that formerly belonged to British Rail, the now-defunct UK state-owned rail operator. ...

Services

• Chiltern Trains services run at frequent intervals (mostly half-hourly) between Marylebone station in the northwest part of central London and Birmingham (Snow Hill), with further trains (at approximately two-hourly intervals) between Marylebone and Stratford-upon-Avon. A number of the Birmingham trains start from Kidderminster in the mornings and terminate there in the evenings.
• Four long-distance trains an hour, operated by Virgin Trains, also serve Leamington station throughout most of the day, two northbound and two southbound. Basically, these alternate between services from Manchester to Reading (and vice versa) and others running from Edinburgh and/or Newcastle by way of Sheffield to Reading and Bournemouth by way of Southampton (and vice versa). Half of these Virgin Trains services also serve Coventry and Birmingham International Airport, and all of these services serve Birmingham (New St).
• Central Trains operates a limited number of peak-hour trains to Birmingham (Snow Hill) at the beginning of the day and from there in the evening.
• Although the station no longer sees, as it once did, through expresses to London (Paddington), the number of train services calling at Leamington today is probably higher today than it has ever been.
• Note that the frequency of trains on Sundays is in most cases about half of that indicated above.

For other uses, see London (disambiguation) and Defining London (below). ... Map sources for Kidderminster at grid reference SO825765 Kidderminster is a town in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. ... Manchester is a city in the North West of England. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... Newcastle Central Station Newcastle Central Station is the principal railway station in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. ... For other uses, see Sheffield (disambiguation). ... Bournemouth is a seaside resort on the south coast of England. ... Southampton is a city and major port situated on the south coast of England. ... There is also a Birmingham International Airport in the United States. ... The central (and longest) span of Paddington Station Paddington station or London Paddington is the name of a major National Rail and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area of London. ...

Leamington Avenue and Leamington Milverton stations

As mentioned above, the first railway line to reach Leamington Spa did so in December 1844. It was a branch line from Coventry, built by the London and Birmingham Railway (amalgamated two years later into the London and North-Western Railway (LNWR)). The terminus (named "Leamington") was immediately north of Rugby Road in New Milverton, roughly half-way between the centres of Warwick and Leamington (that is to say, about a mile and a half from each). 1844 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it becam a constituent part of the London and North Western Railway. ...

In March 1851 the LNWR opened another branch, this time from Rugby, which ran through Leamington and made an end-on connection to the Coventry branch at Milverton. Although the new line ran briefly parallel to the route of the Great Western Railway's Birmingham to Oxford line, which was then under construction in southern Leamington, and within spitting distance of the more central GWR station which opened in 1852, the LNWR did not open a station of its own alongside the GWR station until February 1854. This was evidently a somewhat hastily constructed timber affair: a more permanent brick-buit station followed in 1860. The LNWR's new station, with its entrance off Avenue Road, was called, appropriately enough, "Leamington Avenue" — the old station (with an eye on Warwick traffic?) being renamed "Warwick (Milverton)". 1851 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Rugby is a market town in the county of Warwickshire in central England on the River Avon. ... 1854 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...

The two railways in Leamington remained "so near and yet so far" for many years. Although a link to allow the transfer of goods traffic between the two lines was installed in 1864, it was not until 1908 that a junction was constructed for passenger trains. This (in principle) permitted LNWR trains from the Rugby direction to use the GWR station — and incidentally allowed the latter to describe itself more grandly as "Leamington Spa General". 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In October 1883 the LNWR moved its Milverton station to a new site no more than 200 yards further south, where the railway crossed Warwick New Road. As the new station was on an embankment, the platforms and shelters were constructed of wood, with the other station offices being built below at road level. The original station at Milverton remained the site of the LNWR's Leamington locomotive depot and turntable, and right up until the final closure of the line from Rugby, trains from that direction terminated and turned round there. 1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... A small turntable at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. In rail terminology, a turntable is a device used to turn railroad rolling stock. ...

Leamington Avenue and Milverton stations — by then called respectively "Leamington Spa (Avenue)" and "Leamington Spa (Milverton) for Warwick" (see below) — both suffered closure under the Beeching cuts in 1965. Almost all the trains from these stations had been local services, to Kenilworth, Coventry, Rugby and (earlier) Daventry and Weedon. Although the route to Coventry survives (a new junction was installed in 1966 allowing access from the west end of the surviving (former Great Western) station) and now carries an intensive service of long-distance trains, all the intermediate stations were closed. The line to Rugby was lifted entirely. Most of its trackbed is extant, but there is a substantial gap in south-eastern Leamington where the new housing estate of Sydenham has been built over the former route. Many railway lines were closed as a result of the Beeching Axe The Beeching Axe was an informal name for the British governments attempt in the 1960s to control the spiralling cost of running the British railway system by closing what it considered to be little-used and unprofitable... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Map sources for Kenilworth at grid reference SP295715 Kenilworth is a town in Warwickshire, England. ... For other uses see Daventry (disambiguation) Daventrys High Street Daventry is a market town in Northamptonshire, England with a population of 22,367 (2001 census). ... Weedon Bec (usually called just Weedon) is a large village and parish in the Daventry district of Northamptonshire, England. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

What's in a name?

Milverton must be a candidate for the title of "most renamed station in Great Britain". The station there has been officially called, successively:

1844: Leamington — 1854: Warwick (Milverton) — 1856: Warwick — 1857: Warwick (Milverton) again — 1875: Leamington Milverton (Warwick) — 1876: Milverton (for Warwick) — 1884: Warwick (Milverton) yet again — 1952: Leamington Spa (Milverton) for Warwick.

Strangely enough, the change of site in 1883 did not occasion a renaming!

External links

• Train times and station information for Leamington Spa railway station from National Rail (Station code: LMS)
• Street map and aerial photo of Leamington Spa railway station from Multimap.com
• Solihull and Leamington Rail Users Association – representing the interests and views of local rail users