19th and 20th century 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 in 1915, with its current buildings designed by
Reginald Wynn Owen; the most prominent feature of which is the clock tower. In 1873, another line had 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 line was closed to passengers in 1931, but remained open for goods until 1971. In November 2012, the 0.9 mile
Nuneaton North Chord opened to the north of the station. The chord allows freight trains approaching Nuneaton from
Felixstowe, via the Birmingham–Peterborough line, to join the northbound WCML after crossing the flyover, allowing them to avoid conflicts with southbound main line trains.
Accident in 1975 In the early hours of 6 June 1975, an overnight sleeper train from London to 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; this led the driver to wrongly conclude that it had been lifted, so he failed to slow down. One of the
Class 86 locomotives mounted the platform, causing damage to the station. A plaque commemorating the victims of the crash was unveiled at the station in August 2015.
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 WCML 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. ==Layout and facilities==