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LINE PLAN Birmingham New Street Worcester Shrub Hill Ashchurch Cheltenham Spa Cam & Dursley Yate Bristol Parkway Filton Abbey Wood Bristol Temple Meads

Filton Abbey Wood station with modern shelters and additional platform seating. Unusually, the shelters each give only five proper seats and no perch bars but leave plenty of standing room, which suggests significant commuting in both directions. Video displays provide train information Wheels: BL.  If you're on wheels, see our Easy Access page for explanation. A full list of routes covered by Dudley Mall appears at the bottom of this page.

BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET has a full description page to itself here. When you've viewed it, click the Back button that you'll find at top or bottom of the page to return here. For simple convenience, however, this is our main plan. We've labelled the east and west ends, but trains can go in almost any direction from either end - and when under pressure, they do! Wheels: BM.

Note: Services from Birmingham to Bristol typically use the route via Bromsgrove, but may not stop at any of the stations (and may even bypass Worcester itself). Alternatively, they may take the Kidderminster route. If you need to see the stations between Birmingham and Worcester click the appropriate link above.

WORCESTER SHRUB HILL does actually sit on a hill, with a sweeping road approach from the grander days of horse and carriage. It still has a grand frontage, but the approaches are now full of parked cars (pay and display). A short distance down from the station is a free car park. Within the station, there are more platform faces than are now used for public services - i.e. the two long platform faces, plus a stub siding at the southern end of platform 2. A passenger overbridge links the two sides of the station, while wheelchairs can cross using the goods lift and bridge (with staff help). There is plenty of shelter. Those who like early railway architecture will find a listed building on platform 2 in the shape of a small wall-tiled waiting room that looks like it was built in the 1840s. It is apparently scheduled for restoration, though the current financial situation may delay that. Wheels: BW. (rev 2007) Shrub Hill retains a lot of the grandeur it had as a major station on the Paddington-Birmingham main line in steam days - most of it on platform 1 (right). Click here for Worcester to Hereford   or here for Worcester to Oxford For northern links see the note after Birmingham New Street above.

ASHCHURCH For TEWKESBURY   Ashchurch used to be where the local line into Tewkesbury branched off from the main line down to Bristol. The line itself is history, but a bus service is provided for the 2-mile journey instead. Ashchurch itself was closed, and for a while was a steam preservation centre. This is a new station on the same site, located in the middle of a trading estate (but easily found – the signing is fine). It has free parking for about 50 cars, plus a whole block of spaces set aside for disabled users. There is level access from the car park to the northbound platform, and a massive ramp to reach the opposite platform. Each side has a modern bus shelter with seats for about 10 people, and train information is at the entrance. Wheels: BBr. The northward view towards Worcester shows how the ramp dominates the station, and the sky is a reminder of the fickle (and wet!) weather we had in August 2004 when it was taken. The line to the right once took you to Evesham, Redditch and Birmingham, but now just goes to the local MoD site. [Thanks to Geoff Kerr for additional info.]

CHELTENHAM SPA station lies in the corner of Gloucester Road (B4633) and Queens Road. There is access from both sides, with the main building and extensive pay-and-display parking on the Queens Road side. Both entrances are higher than the rest of the station, level with the twin passenger overbridges. The ticket office is also at this level. There are covered steps down to both platforms, while outside (open air) ramps go down to entrances at platform level. The station is traditional with canopies for most of its length and plenty of seats. Both sides have waiting rooms, with the Bristol platform also offering snacks. Both are served with video train information and a pleasant clear-voiced announcing system. Wheels: BBr Cheltenham also serves the Cheltenham-Cardiff line. Click here to transfer to our guide for that line.

CAM & DURSLEY station lies in a rural setting between Cam and Coaley, very close to the east side of the M5. Road signing is good enough to find it, though the approach is longer than on the plan. It has a park and ride bus service, with free parking with about 80 parking places. Disabled parking is on the ramp side of the platform entrance. The station was re-opened in 1994, so it's wheelchair-friendly at the expense of massive ramping to cross the line - but a lot safer than footboard crossings.

Modern open-fronted bus shelters serve both platforms with about 8-10 seats. Wheels: BBr. Two tracks, two platforms, two shelters... and a huge ramp. But also a substantial commuter car park off to the left of the picture, and a bus service right to the platform gate.

YATE station is the nearest station to Chipping Sodbury, and has its platforms staggered either side of the A432 (Station Road). The Bristol-bound platform has a pay-and-display parking area for about 80 cars. The access to this is signed through a small commercial estate, though on first meeting we were uncertain of the turn down to the parking area itself. The car park is on a slope. This is manageable for wheelchairs, but they have no short route to the overbridge. Walkers have steps. Although the road is busy, the traffic-light-controlled junction immediately west of the overbridge should simplify crossing. Steps (27) and ramp are both available down to the northbound platform, and the ramp has solid handrails on both sides. This platform predictably has less shelter area than the Bristol (commuter) side, which has two modern bus shelters with 10 perchbar seats in each. Road signing seems good enough in Yate, but the Chipping Sodbury part of the conurbation seems to ignore it. For those with an interest, the old goods shed survives on the south side of the bridge albeit modified and encompassed by high fences and temporary buildings. Wheels (to parking): BBr.

BRISTOL PARKWAY was apparently designed by an architect in love with aluminium. The station building looks more stylish from some angles than others, but has a good range of provision within, including a combined newsagents, snackbar and waiting room above the ticket office. The ticket barrier is just beyond these, across the overbridge. Lifts and stairs go down to the platforms, which have attractive- looking waiting rooms underneath the stairs.

The platforms themselves look minimalist, though in fairness they do have long canopies with seats underneath them, and a solid windbreak along them. Bus shelters, taxi spaces and 20-minute free parking (ticket still needed) are all fairly close to the station building. In addition, there is considerable open-air day-long parking space, plus two-level parking parallel to the railway and linked into the station building close to the lift. We didn't make a count of spaces but it's in the hundreds. Road signing just says "Parkway", but trust this and it will get you there. Wheels: BBr. LATE NOTE: In May 2007 (after our visit), a third platform face was opened and numbered 4. There is currently no platform 1, but Parkway has become a bottleneck for rising traffic, and there is a real likelihood of a new platform 1 eventually being added on the other side of platform 2. Please be aware that the two tracks shown by platform 4 may not be accurately drawn, and may loop back to the main running tracks before the road overbridge.

FILTON ABBEY WOOD is clearly signed off Station Road (A4174) up a rather diffident-looking road (Emma-Chris Way) behind a retail park. This ends in a lozenge shaped roundabout with 8-10 spaces around it, and maybe another 40 in the adjacent parking area. Then you start trekking up a gentle, well-surfaced grade for about 160 yards before you reach modern wheelchair-friendly ramps across and down to the platforms. The station has three tracks through it, with platform faces for each. Large modern bus shelters are provided with only five seats in each, but considerable standing space as well. Train service information is provided by video. There is a portable cabin ticket office, locked on the Saturday we were there, so we cannot say whether it is still in use. There is also a second exit from the station - which takes you straight to a high fence, a Ministry of Defence building beyond, and police cars slowly patrolling the space in between. There is, however, a pavement along the fence which appears to offer at least one civilian destination. Wheels: BBr.

BRISTOL TEMPLE MEADS is probably the largest station in the West of England - a provincial capital of railways, and not vastly different from its heyday. Its protective overall roof stretches from the entrance across to platform 7/8, with canopies providing cover elsewhere. Unlike stations in the Midlands, which label long platforms as (e.g.) 5a and 5b, this station gives new numbers to the same platform faces, odd numbers to the north end of the station, even numbers to the south (but there is no platform 14, only 13 and 15). The platforms are linked by a modern or modernised mall-like underpass with several commercial stalls, and there are steps and lifts to all platforms. Three of the four platform islands have waiting rooms, and there are snacking facilities on two of them. The exit is from platform 1 through an automatic ticket barrier, but with a staffed gate for incompatible tickets, wheels and heavily luggaged passengers. On the other side is a large ticket office. The access road outside will get you to Temple Gate, the north east corner of the city centre, in a five minute walk. There is parking near the booking office, but it wasn't clear whether this was for travellers or railway staff only, so you'd need to enquire. Temple Meads doesn't have the gloss of some of the modernised London termini such as Liverpool Street, but it can keep you warm, dry and fed whilst waiting for your train. Finally, note that Temple Meads lies in an interesting network of lines. If you're travelling south-west, you'll be heading off the left side of the sketch. Otherwise just pay close attention to train announcements. Wheels: BBr. For the route on to the south west, click Bristol to Exeter

Routes and Resources Table: Front Information Page Birmingham All-Stations Map   Central Region Routes Map Full Routes Scroll Map Stations A-Z       Birmingham New Street Station Birmingham - Cheltenham & Bristol Birmingham - Coventry & London Euston Birmingham - Derby & Nottingham Birmingham - Kidderminster & Worcester Birmingham - Leamington Spa Birmingham - Leicester Birmingham - Lichfield Birmingham - Redditch & Worcester Birmingham - Rugeley Birmingham - Stratford-upon-Avon Bristol - Exeter Cheltenham Spa - Cardiff Chester - Hereford & Cardiff Chester - Llandudno Crewe - Shrewsbury Crewe & Stoke - Wolverhampton & Birmingham Derby & Nottingham - Bedford & London Ipswich - Cambridge & Norwich Leamington Spa - London Leamington Spa - Oxford Leicester - Cambridge Lowestoft - Ipswich & Felixstowe Manchester - Crewe via M. Airport Manchester - Crewe via Stockport Norwich - Cambridge Norwich - Great Yarmouth Norwich - Lowestoft Norwich - Sheringham Nottingham - Grantham Oxford - Bicester Shrewsbury - Llandrindod Stafford - Rugby via Trent Valley Stoke-on-Trent - Derby       Walsall - Shrewsbury Worcester - Hereford Worcester - Oxford Please note: the notes and sketches are intended only to give a general impression, and should not be relied upon for more than that. Dudley Mall accepts no liability for errors, but will correct any significant ones notified to us through dudleymall@dudleymall.co.uk or by post to Dudley Mall, 62 Gervase Drive, Dudley, West Midlands DY1 4AT.

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