Wolverhampton railway station

Wolverhampton railway station in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England is on the West Coast Main Line. It is served by London Midland, CrossCountry, Virgin Trains and Arriva Trains Wales.

History
The first station on this site was opened in 1852 by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). The only visible remnant of the original station is the Queen's Building, the gateway to Railway Drive which was the approach road to the station, which nowadays is a WHSmith serving Wolverhampton bus station. Three years later the Great Western Railway (GWR) opened a second station, located behind the older station on lower ground, which became known as the Wolverhampton Low Level station, the other becoming known as Wolverhampton High Level.

From 1923, the LNWR was amalgamated into the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), and in 1948 it became part of the London Midland Region of British Railways.

The present Wolverhampton station dates from 1965, when the High Level station was completely rebuilt as part of the modernisation programme which saw the West Coast Main Line electrified. It consisted of three through platforms (the present platforms 1, 2 and 3). In the 1980s, a parcels siding was converted into a south-facing bay platform (the present platform 5), and a new north-facing bay was constructed (the present platform 6).

In 1987 twelve different horse sculptures by Kevin Atherton, titled Iron Horse, were erected between New Street station and Wolverhampton, including one at the southern end of platforms 2 and 3.

More recently (in 2004), a new through platform (platform 4) was constructed on the site of infrequently-used sidings. This has greatly enhanced the capacity of the station. A new footbridge was also constructed, to allow access to the new platform but also to improve access to the existing ones. A proposal for a more comprehensive redevelopment of the station and surrounding area was announced on 18 October 2006.

Current operations
Typical weekday operations are as follows:

Virgin Trains:
 * 1tph to London Euston (more in the morning peak)
 * 1tph to Birmingham New Street
 * 1tph to Scotland, alternating every two hours between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh. These terminate at Preston late in the evening.
 * One train every weekday to Holyhead

London Midland:
 * 5tph to Birmingham New Street, of which two continue to Walsall
 * 2tph to Liverpool Lime Street, terminating at Crewe late in the evening
 * 1tph to Shrewsbury, calling all stations. Arriva Trains Wales operates this service on Sundays, with a 1tp2h frequency.

CrossCountry:
 * 2tph to Manchester Piccadilly, one via Maccesfield
 * 2tph to Birmingham New Street, extending to various parts of southern England, such as (but not exclusive to) Bristol Temple Meads, Bournemouth, Paignton and Southampton

Arriva Trains Wales:
 * 1tp2h to Pwllheli & Aberystwyth, dividing at Machynlleth
 * 1tp2h to Holyhead via Chester
 * 1tph to Birmingham International

Platforms
Wolverhampton station has six platforms: platforms 1 to 4 are through platforms, while platforms 5 and 6 are bay platforms at the south and north ends respectively. Although all four platforms are reversible, in practice platform 1 is used for northbound services, platform 2 is used as reversible and platforms 3 and 4 are used for southbound service - although platform 3 is used for northbound services at busy times. Platform 5 is used by local services to Walsall via Birmingham New Street. Platform 6 was designed for local services on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line but it is rarely used, as the majority of services on that route travel through to Birmingham (or occasionally to Walsall). It is generally used for the first service of the day to Shrewsbury and for holding trains when they are not in use.

Virgin Trains services from London Euston typically arrive at platform 2, then reverse to make the journey back to London Euston. Occasionally, services from Glasgow Central or Edinburgh run through to London Euston and vice versa, instead of the train starting or terminating at Wolverhampton.

All platforms at the station are electrified to 25kV AC overhead power.

Redevelopment
The railway station is earmarked for redevelopment as part of the Wolverhampton Interchange Project. Neptune Developments were selected for the project and plan to create a major mixed used area that includes both bus and railway stations, a hotel, retail outlets, bars, cafes and offices. Also on the plans are a link to the Metro, which will see Metro stops at the railway and bus stations to connect all the public transport facilities and create a comprehensive transport interchange in Wolverhampton city centre.

The plan is to completely rebuild the railway station and improve pedestrian access over the ring road, with a new footbridge link direct to the bus station. After a shortfall in funding for the project, it was decided that the development would take place in phases. Phase One began in April 2010 with the construction of the new bus station which was completed in 2011. A date for Phase Two, which includes the railway station, canalside development, and a hotel, has yet to be decided.