Nuneaton railway station

Nuneaton railway station serves the large town of Nuneaton in Warwickshire, England. The station is managed by London Midland. It is served by three railway lines; the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line, the Birmingham-Leicester-Peterborough Line and the Nuneaton to Coventry branch line. It was known, during the period 1924–1969 as Nuneaton Trent Valley, to distinguish it from the now closed Nuneaton Abbey Street station, though many local people still refer to it as Trent Valley.

History
The original Nuneaton station was opened on 15 September 1847 when the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) opened the Trent Valley Line, the branch line to Coventry opened in 1850. The original station, like many others on the line had been designed by John William Livock: A simple two platform structure, it became inadequate to cope with the growing traffic, and was rebuilt on a larger scale with extra platforms in 1873, it was rebuilt and enlarged again with the present buildings in 1915.

In 1873 another line was opened; the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway, to link Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Coalville in order to access the large coal reserves located there. The Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway Line was closed to passengers in 1931 but remained open for goods until 1971. Part of it was later reopened as the heritage Battlefield Line.

A second station in Nuneaton; Nuneaton Midland had been opened by the Midland Railway in 1864 on the line between Birmingham and Leicester. When both the LNWR and Midland Railway became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1924, both station were renamed; the present station becoming known as Nuneaton Trent Valley, and the former Midland station becoming Nuneaton Abbey Street. Abbey Street station was closed in 1968, and the present station reverted to being called just 'Nuneaton', and took on the Birmingham to Leicester services.

Other stations serving Nuneaton included the aforementioned Abbey Street, and two suburban stations at Stockingford on the line towards Birmingham, and Chilvers Coton on the line to Coventry. These were all closed in the 1960s under the 1963 Reshaping of British Railways report, leaving only the present one. In addition, on 18 January 1965 the Coventry – Nuneaton Line closed to passengers, reopening to passengers in 1988. In 2016 a new station in Nuneaton; Bermuda Park was opened on this line.

Prior to 2004, Birmingham - Leicester - Stansted Airport services had to run across the West Coast Main Line at Nuneaton, creating conflicting movements and limiting capacity. In 2004 Network Rail carried out work to separate the West Coast Main Line and the Birmingham to Leicester line, to eliminate the conflicting movements. This involved constructing two new platforms numbered 6 and 7 on the site of the former goods loop and engineers' sidings, and reinstating a disused flyover north of the station to carry the line towards Birmingham, along with a new rail link between the flyover and the new platforms. This allowed Birmingham to Leicester trains to cross over the West Coast Main Line on the flyover, before calling at the new platforms. This work also removed the pointwork which had allowed trains to run from Coventry to Leicester via a reversal at Nuneaton.

1975 accident
On the early hours of 6 June 1975, an overnight sleeper train from London to Glasgow derailed and crashed just south of Nuneaton station, killing six people and injuring 38. It was caused when the train ran onto a length of temporary track with a speed restriction at too high a speed; lighting equipment illuminating a board giving advance warning of the speed restriction failed, and this led the driver to wrongly conclude that it had been lifted, so he failed to slow down. One of the locomotives mounted the platform, causing damage to the station.

Services
London Midland operate an hourly service, southbound to London Euston via Rugby and Milton Keynes Central, and northbound to Crewe via Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.
 * West Coast Main Line:

Virgin Trains services from London Euston to Crewe, Chester, Holyhead, Liverpool Lime Street, Blackpool North and Manchester Piccadilly also call during peak hours. Prior to December 2008, Virgin Trains was the sole provider of services to/from London; since then, London Midland's Crewe services offer an alternative option.

Grand Central have been given permission to run six trains a day from London to Blackpool North from 2018, with conditional permission for a stop at Nuneaton dependent upon future capacity after infrastructural work.

CrossCountry operate two trains per hour, westbound to Birmingham New Street, and eastbound to Leicester, one of which continues to Stansted Airport via Peterborough and Cambridge. All services on this line use platforms 6 and 7.
 * Birmingham to Peterborough Line:

London Midland also provide an hourly shuttle service southbound to Coventry via Bedworth. This normally uses platform 1.
 * Coventry to Nuneaton Line:

Motive Power Depot
The LNWR opened a small locomotive depot in 1847 which was used until 1878 when it was replaced by a larger facility. The engine sheds were doubled in size in 1888 and enlarged still further in 1892. This was an important freight Depot for the West Coast Main Line and its connections at Trent Valley Station, also catering for local passenger services. It was located to the south of the station between the main line and that to Coventry. The depot closed 6 June 1966 and has since been demolished.