Lichfield City railway station

Lichfield City
Location
Place	Lichfield
Local authority	Staffordshire
Grid reference	SK119091
Operations
Station code	LIC
Managed by	London Midland
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	0.607 million
2011/12	0.621 million
2012/13	0.638 million
2013/14	0.643 million
2014/15	0.685 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1849
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Lichfield City from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Lichfield City is one of two railway stations serving the city of Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England. It is situated in the city-centre, and is towards the northern end of the Cross-City Line 17¼ miles (28 km) north east of Birmingham New Street. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by London Midland. The other station serving Lichfield is Lichfield Trent Valley on the city outskirts.

History

Early years

Lichfield City Station in 1849

The station opened in 1849, on the South Staffordshire Railway's line from Lichfield Trent Valley to Walsall and Dudley. This later became part of the London and North Western Railway. The architect for the South Staffordshire Railway was Mr Edward Adams of London and the station building built in 1849 was a modest creation in a Tudor style, with tall gables and chimneys.^[1] Services to Birmingham began in 1884, when a branch to Sutton Coldfield opened, connecting with an earlier LNWR line. This original station was demolished in 1882 when the present one was built to accommodate these additional services. The original station stood further east than the present one. It was approached from the city by a path which ran across Levett's Field and up some brick steps in front of the station, these can still be seen near the present Fire Station.^[1]

Recent history

Passenger trains northwards via Trent Valley station to Burton upon Trent ceased in January 1965, along with trains to Walsall so Lichfield City became the northern terminus of the line from Birmingham. This later became part of the Cross-City Line. In 1988 under British Rail, the line was extended back to Trent Valley. Lichfield City has retained considerable character.^[2]

The line to Walsall subsequently closed to all traffic in March 1984, except for the portion as far as Anglesey sidings (near Hammerwich), which was retained to serve a Charringtons oil terminal. Traffic from there ceased in 2002 and the line has been disused since then (though the track remains intact).

In June 1990 the station was in the news after an off-duty soldier was shot and killed, and two others were wounded when two IRA gunmen opened fire.^[3] A plaque commemorating the incident is situated in the station.

The station platform

The South Staffordshire Line

The South Staffordshire Line from Lichfield Trent Valley to Burton on Trent is often used for diversions (when the route via Tamworth is closed for engineering work), as well as for occasional freight trains and empty stock transfers.

Services

Monday-Saturday

Southbound

• 2 trains per hour (tph) to Redditch, of which:
• One starts here calling at all stations except Shenstone and Duddeston
• One from Lichfield Trent Valley calling at all stations except Duddeston
• 2 tph to Longbridge, of which:
• One starts here calling at all stations except Shenstone and Duddeston
• One from Lichfield Trent Valley calling at all stations except Duddeston

Northbound

• 2 tph to Lichfield Trent Valley;
• 2 tph terminate here to return south.^[4]

Sunday

Southbound

• 2 tph to Redditch, calling at all stations

Northbound

• 2 tph to Lichfield Trent Valley

References

1. Clayton, Howard (1981), Cathedral City: A Look at Victorian Lichfield, Abottsford Publishing, p. 46, ISBN 978-0-9503563-1-0
2. Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Lichfield City station
3. New York Times
4. GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 69 (Network Rail)

External links

• Train times and station information for Lichfield City railway station from National Rail

Coordinates: 52°40′49″N 1°49′33″W / 52.68017°N 1.82571°W