Duddeston railway station

Duddeston opened in 1837 as Vauxhall, the temporary Birmingham terminus of the Grand Junction Railway from Warrington. When the permanent terminus at Curzon Street opened in 1839, Vauxhall became a goods-only station. Bloomsbury and Nechells station opened nearby in 1856. An extract from an 1859 railway inspector's report into a minor collision reveals something of how the station was operated: The station was rebuilt and re-opened to passengers in 1869 under the LNWR, and Bloomsbury and Nechells station closed. The station was renamed Vauxhall and Duddeston in 1889. In 1941 it was hit by a bomb during a night raid and was destroyed. It was rebuilt in a temporary fashion, and in the mid-1950s it caught fire and was subsequently rebuilt. The line through the station, to Walsall via Perry Barr, was electrified in 1966 as part of the London Midland Region's electrification programme. The actual energization of the line from Coventry to Walsall through Perry Barr took place on 15 August 1966. The station was renamed Duddeston on 6 May 1974. The entrance and ticket hall are over the tracks, on the Duddeston Mill Road bridge. The former Midland Railway line to Derby is nearby. Adjacent are railway sheds that were once used for industrial purposes. They are now disused and the entrance has been blocked to prevent trespassing. A shed on the opposite side of the station to the remaining sheds has been demolished and its site is wasteland. The station has two island platforms serving four tracks, but only one island platform and two tracks remain in use; the others have fallen into disrepair. The remaining platform features artwork on black metal backgrounds. ==Facilities==

The station has a ticket office located on the concourse, though it is open from 08:00 to 10:00 on Mondays to Fridays only. There is also a ticket machine on the concourse. In 2011, London Midland proposed the closure of the ticket office. The request was denied. ==Services==

Duddeston is served by West Midlands Trains with services on both the Cross-City Line and the Chase Line. Cross-City services are operated using Electric multiple units (EMUs) while Chase Line services are operated using and Class 730 EMUs. The typical service pattern is as follows: Mondays to Saturdays • 4 trains per hour (tph) northbound to . • Of which: • 2 tph continue northbound to via , calling at all stations to Lichfield Trent Valley, departing from Platform 1. • 2 tph continue to via , calling at all stations Aston to Walsall, departing from Platform 1. • 4 tph southbound to . • Of which: • 2 tph continue southbound to via and , calling at all stations to Bromsgrove. • 2tph continue to via , calling at all stations to Wolverhampton. A limited number of trains continue past Walsall to , usually 2 trains per day on weekdays. Sundays • 2 tph northbound to , calling at all stations. • 2 tph southbound to Redditch, calling at all stations. • 1 tph to Walsall, calling at all stations. • 1 tph to Wolverhampton, calling at all stations. The average journey time to Birmingham New Street is around 5 minutes. ==References==