Rugeley Town railway station


Rugeley Town railway station serves the market town of Rugeley, in Staffordshire, England. It is managed by West Midlands Trains, with services operated under their West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway brand names. The station is situated around half a mile from Rugeley town centre, on Wharf Road.

History

The original station was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 1 June 1870. The station, together with all those on the line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley, were closed on 18 January 1965 as part of the Beeching Axe, although the line remained open as freight-only. The station closed to goods on 6 September 1965.
A new station opened in 1997, some 250m south of the original, as the second stage of the reopening to passengers of the Chase Line saw the extension of services beyond Hednesford. The following year, the short section of track between Rugeley Town and Rugeley Trent Valley stations was also reopened, allowing services to be extended via the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line to Stafford.
In May 2019, a new service to London Euston commenced, operated by London Northwestern Railway. This service was later suspended, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, and cut back to Birmingham International.
In April 2011, the area was still mechanically signalled from the Brereton Sidings signal box immediately south of the station on the east side of the line, but the box closed in 2013 as part of the ongoing West Midlands re-signalling scheme. Control passed to the West Midlands Signalling Centre at Saltley, though in the long term the WCML South Rail Operating Centre at Rugby will have responsibility for this part of the country.

Services

Rugeley Town is served by West Midlands Trains, under the West Midlands Railway brand, using Class 350 electric multiple units.
There is typically a half-hourly service northbound to and southbound to, via and. On Sundays, the service reduces to hourly.
Journey times are typically 4 minutes to Rugeley Trent Valley, 26 minutes to Walsall and 49 minutes to Birmingham New Street.