Redditch railway station

Redditch railway station serves the town of Redditch, North Worcestershire, England. It is the southern terminus of the Cross-City Line 14.5mi south of. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by London Midland. Redditch station sits at the end of a single track branch line from which forms part of the Cross-City Line. The line used to continue south to, but this was closed in the 1960s.Since September 2014, Redditch and Lichfield Trent Valley are now the only stations on the Cross City Line to have single platforms.HistoryIn July 1858 the Redditch Railway Act authorised a line to link Redditch with the Midland Railway's Birmingham and Gloucester line at. The Redditch Railway opened on 18 September 1859 but was operated from the start by the Midland Railway.In 1868 the Evesham and Redditch Railway built a line south from Redditch through to a junction at. There were intermediate stations between Redditch and Evesham at Studley and Astwood Bank, Coughton,, (for the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway), Salford Priors, and Harvington.British Railways (BR) closed the line south of Alcester on 29 September 1962 after suspending the passenger service between Redditch and Evesham due to poor track condition. Freight services continued between Redditch and Alcester until 1964 when BR closed the whole line south of Redditch. The remaining line from Redditch to Barnt Green was nearly closed under the Beeching Axe, which would have severed the town from the railway network entirely. But a strong campaign by local residents and local MPs managed to save it. However, by the late 1960s, services to Redditch had been cut to the bare minimum with just four daily trains to and from Birmingham. This persisted until 1980, when an hourly service was extended to Redditch on the newly upgraded Cross-City Line. This was upgraded to half-hourly in 1989.