Everything about Stoke-on-trent Railway Station totally explained
Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a main-line railway station in the
United Kingdom. It is located on the
Stafford to
Manchester branch of the
West Coast Main Line and serves the
Staffordshire city of
Stoke-on-Trent. The station also provides an interchange between various local services running through
Cheshire,
Staffordshire and
Derbyshire.
History
The very fine Victorian station buildings were opened
October 9,
1848. The other buildings located in Winton Square, including the North Stafford hotel, were opened in June 1849. All these buildings were constructed by
John Jay to the design of H.A. Hunt of London, using an architectural style referred to as ‘robust Jacobean manor-house’ .
The station was built by the
North Staffordshire Railway Company and, until the amalgamation of 1923, housed the Company's Boardroom and its principal offices. Stoke-on-Trent has always been and still is the hub of North Staffordshire's passenger train service.
The station today
Stoke-on-Trent station is managed by
Virgin Trains. It has three passenger platforms, and one central through line without a platform (which is due to be taken out within the next few months). The entrance to the station is from Winton Square, opposite the North Stafford Hotel, into a large modern booking hall with an enquiry office, Fast Ticket machines, a HSBC cashpoint and level access to platform 1 from which southbound and eastbound trains normally depart. On this platform are the main buildings, refreshment room and bar which sells cigarettes, newspapers and a selection of magazines, free CCTV-covered cycle-locking racks, a post box, free newly refurbished toilets for both ladies and gentlemen, a first class lounge with Wi-Fi and offices for the
British Transport Police.
There is both a tiled passenger subway and a passenger operated lift connecting platform 1 with platforms 2 and 3. Northbound trains usually depart from platform 2, which has a newly refurbished waiting room, ladies' and gentlemen's toilets. Platform 3 is a short bay platform used by some regional trains to Manchester Piccadilly.
The station building retains much of its mid-Victorian character, including a classic glazed roof that spans the platforms, and is now a
Grade II* listed building. A war memorial, with brass nameplates naming local men who fell during the wars, discreetly flanks the entrance to platform 1.
Services
In April 2006,
Network Rail organised its maintenance and train control operations into "26 Routes". The main line through Stoke-on-Trent forms part of Route 18 (The West Coast Mainline). The line from Derby to the junction just south of Stoke-on-Trent station forms part of Route 19 (The Midland Main Line and East Midlands).
Major destinations served by 'through' (for example: direct service) express trains in 2007 include: to the south
London,
Birmingham,
Birmingham International Airport (for the airport and the
NEC),
Coventry,
Oxford,
Leamington Spa,
Reading,
Bournemouth; and to the north
Stockport,
Manchester,
Preston,
Carlisle and
Edinburgh.
Destinations served by local and regional trains include: to the north
Longport,
Kidsgrove,
Alsager,
Crewe,
Congleton,
Macclesfield,
Cheadle Hulme,
Stockport; to the east
Blythe Bridge,
Uttoxeter,
Tutbury and
Derby; and to the south
Stafford and
Wolverhampton. There will be an hourly semi-fast direct service from Stoke to
Lichfield, via
Stone, from January 2009.
The nearby
Etruria railway station, one mile to the north, was closed to passengers in 2005. The small village stations of
Wedgwood and
Barlaston, a few miles to the south, are permanently served by buses only and this is unlikely to change in the future.
Freight trains, carrying Cornish clay for use in Stoke's pottery industry, pass through the station. These trains supply an industrial spur line just north of Stoke station.
The station surroundings
The original, now disused, goods yard lies behind the northbound platforms. There were various proposals for its use, including an "iconic" conference centre. However, in April 2007, Virgin announced that 264 new car parking spaces would be made available at Stoke-on-Trent station by January 2009, adding to the two existing small car parks . A new access road, junction and traffic lights were constructed to serve the goods yard road entrance, when the A500 upgrade was completed in 2006/7.
Winton Chambers (a self-contained section of the main station building, including the entire upper floor) is currently leased to the
Staffordshire University, which has its main Stoke-on-Trent campuses in College Road off Station Road and in Leek Road nearby. The University also leases Nos. 1, 2 & 3 Winton Square and Nos. 4 & 5 Winton Square, which with the North Stafford Hotel and the station comprise the original 1848 station complex. There is also a Subway outlet situated to the right of the North Stafford Hotel as you look at it.
The University has expanded rapidly in recent years and a large area to north-east of Stoke-on-Trent station is now seen as a developing University Quarter, which will absorb the relocated sixth-form college currently sited a mile or so to the south at Fenton, and the main F.E. college just to the north, and possibly also the Burslem campus of Stoke F.E. college. This £150m "quarter" regeneration will also entail investment in the immediate surroundings of the railway station.
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