Kenilworth railway station

Kenilworth
The remains of Kenilworth station in 1977, twelve years after closure. One platform has been removed and the line singled.
Location
Place	Kenilworth
Local authority	Warwick
Coordinates	52°20′32″N 1°34′21″W / 52.3422°N 1.5724°W / 52.3422; -1.5724Coordinates: 52°20′32″N 1°34′21″W / 52.3422°N 1.5724°W / 52.3422; -1.5724
Grid reference	SP291716
Operations
Station code	KNW
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
History
Key dates	Opened 9 December 1844 (9 December 1844)
Original company	London and Birmingham Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
1884	Station re-built
18 January 1965	Closed
2017	Planned re-opening
National Rail – UK railway stations
UK Railways portal

Kenilworth railway station was a railway station in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England on the Coventry to Leamington Line.^[1] In 2013 it was announced that the station would reopen in 2016.^[2]

It first opened in 1844, with both the line and the station then being closed to passengers in 1965^[1] as a result of the Reshaping of British Railways report. Passenger services over the line were restarted in the 1980s but the station was not reopened. What remains of the double track includes a passing loop, and the approaches to Coventry and Leamington Spa stations.

Reopening

Proposals for reopening the station have existed for many years. In 2008, CrossCountry and Warwickshire County Council supported the reopening and started to prepare a business case.^[3] It was included in 2008–09 Warwickshire Local Transport Plan.^[4]

The site of the station in 2005.

On 21 July 2009 it was announced that John Laing plc had been awarded a 20-year contract to design, build, and operate the new station, due to open in 2013.^[5][6] Planning permission was granted on 21 April 2011^[7] but funding was refused.^[8] In late 2011, John Laing successfully asked to withdraw from the contract as there was no funding available for the station construction to go ahead in the immediate future.

In November 2011 the upgrading of the Coventry to Nuneaton route was approved, renewing new hope for regeneration of the line through Kenilworth. In February 2013, Warwickshire County Council made a £5 million funding bid to the new fund the government had created to construct or renovate stations.^[9]

In June 2013 the Department for Transport approved funding for the new station.^[10] Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin identified a potential opening date of 2016.^[11] On 12 December 2013 the DfT reannounced its grant of £5 million toward the station's £11.3 million total cost, and gave the opening date as December 2016.^[12] On 4 October 2014 test runs were made between Leamington and Coventry to check timings along the route.^[13]

In early summer 2016 Graham Construction Ltd was awarded the contract to build the station. The official start of work on site took place on 29 July 2016 when Jeremy Wright ceremonially broke ground.^[14]

The current predicted opening date is summer 2017.^[15]

Coventry to Leamington Line
Legend
Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line Berkswell Coventry avoiding line Coventry to Nuneaton Line Coventry Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line Gibbet Hill Junction Kenilworth Junction Kenilworth A46 Warwick (Milverton) Milverton Junction Chiltern Main Line Leamington Spa General Leamington Spa (Avenue) Leamington to Rugby Line Chiltern Main Line

References

External links

• Books about the Kenilworth line
• Kenilworth Station from Warwickshire Railways