Stafford railway station

The railway station in 1960

The first station was built by the Grand Junction Railway and opened in July 1837.[1]^:32 It soon became inadequate and was replaced by a second station in 1844. A third station was built in 1862 which was eventually replaced by the current concrete Brutalist building in 1962, built as part of the modernisation programme which saw the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.[2][3]

Lines originally built by the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway and the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company (to Shrewsbury) also used the station. The Stafford to Uttoxeter line closed to passenger traffic in 1939,[4] with the Shrewsbury line closing as part of the Beeching Axe in 1964.[5]

Following the rebuilding of the station between 1961 and 1962 by the architect William Robert Headley, Isabel, a narrow gauge engine built by local firm W.G. Bagnall stood on a plinth on the opposite side of Station Road at the junction of Railway Street, until it was removed in the mid-1980s and is now on the Amerton Railway.[6]

Two accidents have happened at Stafford since 1990:

• On 4 August 1990, an out-of-service train heading to a depot in Birmingham crashed into the back of an express train bound for Penzance on Platform 4 at Stafford station. The driver was killed and 36 people were injured.[7]
• On 8 March 1996, a mail train collided with a freight train carrying liquid carbon dioxide just south of Stafford. A mail sorter was killed and another 22 people were injured. The mail train locomotive was catapulted up the embankment and came to rest against a house.[8]

There are five platforms in use at the station, all of which are accessible from either of the main lines that converge from the south.[9] Platform 1 is usually used for services to London Euston, and platform 3 is usually used for services from London Euston towards Liverpool and Crewe. Platform 4 is usually used for trains towards Birmingham New Street, and the West of England. Platform 5 is usually used for services from towards Manchester, and Wales. Finally, platform 6 is usually used for trains starting/terminating towards/from London Euston, Birmingham New Street, Northampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe and Liverpool Lime Street.[10]

The Stafford Area Improvements programme meant that trains are no longer bound to a platform based upon direction of travel, and trains can now use any platform, regardless of direction.

Stafford Station as of 2016, with a Vossloh Class 68 locomotive using the converted former Royal Mail platform.

Platform 6 used to be the terminus of the Chase Line, however it now terminates in Rugeley. The platform is also sometimes used for Railtours hence why the platform is split into "a" and "b" sections.

The former bay platform 2 is no longer used by passenger trains. While Virgin Trains operated the British Rail Class 57 Platform 2 used to operate as a 'stable' for these trains, but since their retirement, this job is now redundant. Occasionally, the bay platform 'stables' other locomotives from freight operators.

The westernmost platform (also unofficially known as Platform 7) was formerly used by Royal Mail, to load mail from the sorting office next-door to the platform. This practice has since ended, and now the westernmost Platform has been converted into a Single Goods Line, with bi-directional operation. This was completed during the bank holiday weekend of the 29–31 August 2015.[11]

In October 2012 Network Rail began refurbishment works at the station, due to the poor condition of some of the structures. The work included resurfacing the platforms (platforms 1 and 3 had been completed before the works), improving surface and roof drainage, renewing the opaque glazing on the footbridge, installing new canopy roof covers on the platforms and some structural work on the platform supports.[12]

In June 2015 Virgin Trains unveiled £1 million plans to refurbish the entrance, ticket hall and foyer. The work started in November in the same year and was anticipated to be completed within 20 weeks. These were completed March 2016. The changes saw the ticket machines at the station double, WHSmith relocate to the former travel centre, the travel centre added onto the current ticket purchasing area and Starbucks take the place of Pumpkin Café Shop. The Cafe was also shortened to allow an increased size of the waiting area.[13][14]

Currently the station has many facilities which are typical of those across the Avanti West Coast Network, such as a ticket office, toilets, car park, coffee shop, and newsagent.

The Stafford Area Improvements Programme by Network Rail aims to allow more trains to run and also aims to reduce journey times by removing key bottlenecks in the area around Stafford.[15]

The programme included large scale building works, north of Stafford station in Norton Bridge, Staffordshire, where a flyover was implemented to allow faster train services, and removed the need to slow down before entering the junction.

Other benefits of the programme, were the introduction of bi-directional signals at Stafford Station, which meant that trains can now use any platform, regardless of direction of travel.

A 1902 Railway Clearing House diagram of railway junctions around Stafford

From the south, two branches of the West Coast Main Line meet here: the Trent Valley Line and the Birmingham line. To the north, the trunk of the line continues towards Crewe, whilst the Manchester branch goes on to Stoke-on-Trent.

The station is currently served by three frequent operators (Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry and London North Western) and one less frequent operator Transport for Wales).

Usual off peak services at Stafford follow a pattern such as the one below:

Under current proposals, Stafford will be a part of the High Speed 2 network, via a 'Classic Compatible' junction, which will allow HS2 trains to operate to Stafford, and further on towards Liverpool. This would shorten journey time from Stafford to London, to an estimated 53 minutes.[18] Under current proposals it is expected that an hourly services will operate in both directions, however it is currently unclear if these services will terminate at Stafford, or Liverpool.

As well as this, under current plans, the HS2 depot will be north of Stafford in Yarnfield.

There is also been proposals to reintroduce services to Stafford to terminate on the Chase Line which was cutback to Rugeley Trent Valley in 2008. The Key Corridors states "Extension of Chase Line services to Stafford". This is proposed to be in development.[19]

• Lewis, Roy (1996). Staffordshire Railway Stations on old picture postcards (reprinted 2002). Nottingham: Reflections of a Bygone Age. ISBN 1-900138-05-0

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2012). Stafford to Chester. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 1-18. ISBN 9781908174345. OCLC 830024480.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Stafford to Wellington. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 1-15. ISBN 9781908174598. OCLC 897871462.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2016). Derby to Stoke-on-Trent. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 94-102. ISBN 9781908174932. OCLC 954271104.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stafford railway station.

• Train times and station information for Stafford railway station from National Rail

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Wolverhampton		CrossCountry Cross Country Network		Stoke-on-Trent
				Crewe
Rugeley Trent Valley		London Northwestern Railway London - Crewe		Stone
Penkridge		London Northwestern Railway Liverpool-Birmingham		Crewe
Wolverhampton		London Northwestern Railway Liverpool-Birmingham		Crewe
London Euston		Avanti West Coast London-Liverpool		Crewe
Lichfield Trent Valley				Runcorn
London Euston		Avanti West Coast London-Manchester/Crewe		Crewe
Lichfield Trent Valley
Lichfield Trent Valley		Avanti West Coast London-Glasgow/North West		Crewe
Rugby
Nuneaton or Rugby		Avanti West Coast London-Blackpool		Crewe
Crewe		Transport for Wales North Wales Coast Line		Wolverhampton
Disused railways
Terminus		Great Northern Railway Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway		Stafford Common
Terminus		London and North Western Railway Shropshire Union Railways		Haughton