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Wheels: WO. 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. |
The Worcester to Oxford line is part of the original 19th century Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (nicknamed the Old Worse and Worse). Much of the line has remained rural, but some communities like Charlbury make regular use, and its station was visited by an express just minutes before this photo was taken. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WORCESTER FOREGATE STREET The railway strides across the northern end
of the town centre on a GWR crested viaduct over Foregate Street. The station entrance is at ground level, and
there is also a travel centre. 48 steps take you up separate staircases to the two platforms above, and both have
lifts. The lifts came recently to an awkward site, so the one to the north-side platform had to be sited in a
little alley, reached from the main road. But it's there, it's signed, and it does the job. Platform 1 has a
cafe, there are waiting rooms, and most of the station is canopied for weather protection. Signs warn you that the two platforms are each bi-directional. Trains calling at Worcester Shrub Hill use one
platform; those that don't will use the other. There is no official railway parking. Wheels: BW. As the two-level arrangement
was complex (ok - a pain!) to illustrate in a single sketch you have the unusual benefit of a second sketch to
show the street level arrangement. Click here for Worcester to Birmingham via Bromsgrove Click here for Worcester to Birmingham via Kidderminster Click here for Worcester to Oxford |
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: WO. Click here for Worcester to Cheltenham and Bristol |
PERSHORE station lies at Pershore's very boundary with the village of Pinvin to its north on the B4082. The station has been reduced to single track and hence the one level-access platform serves both directions. It has two bus shelters, one with 3-4 seats in it, and a bike stand has a shelter over it. (We can imagine commuters clustering under that if the shelters ever fill up!) Outside, the parking area will hold about 12 cars in addition to one disabled space. One unexpected treat: this is an industrial area and a caravan snackbar sits handily beside the station to supply workers and rail-users with hot drinks and sandwiches. Wheels: WO.
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EVESHAM
Evesham station lies just south of the railway line, over a hump-back bridge on the A4184 (A44) just north of the shopping area.
A pay-and-display parking area lies at the bottom of the approach slope, alongside a small, pleasant, traditional railway building with a ticket office on the Worcester-bound side, and the opposite platform (reached by a modern steel overbridge only) has a traditional waiting room. Both buildings also provide  canopy shelter from the weather for passengers. But while the Worcester side is easy access, there is no easy route to the Oxford platform. Wheels: WO.The photo shows the car park, left; main station building; steps (the only link between the platforms); the canopied waiting room; and the last remaining track in the old goods depot. |
HONEYBOURNE station was a surprise, having once sported at least three platforms (but since this is the hugely productive Vale of Evesham, the former size may have been to handle fruit trains every summer). These days it is reduced to a single platform with a bus shelter, serving both directions. It is just off Ryknild Street (the Roman road) at the very northern boundary of the attractive village. It is clearly signed, but you may have a moment's confusion as to access as the station is out of sight at that point. Turn off the main road into Stephenson Way, then turn right immediately along an unmarked road. This leads round the back of a housing estate into a free parking area for about 40 cars + disabled spaces, right beside the level-access platform. Wheels: WO.
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MORETON-IN-MARSH station lies 2-3 minutes walk from Morton-in-Marsh's main street (the A429). The access is Station Road, just north of the A429's junction with the A44, though the last few yards are an unnamed road that branches off it. There is pay-and-display parking for 100+ cars, level access to the Worcester platform, a traditional ticket office/waiting room which may only open during the commuter rush, and seats on the platform. An overbridge (which also seems to be a public footpath) gets you to the Oxford platform and its outside seats and waiting room - but not if you're in a wheelchair.  However, there is a footboard crossing at the south end of the station, immediately beside the signal box. Wheels: WO.Right: Moreton-in-Marsh has a traditional brick building with a lesser building opposite. Train and tourist information, video train display under the canopy, and lots of parking. |
KINGHAM station is not in the village itself, but about a mile south of it on the B4450, going towards to Bledington. Despite this minor solecism, Kingham has been a significant station in the past (two defunct platform faces are vestigially visible) and is an important commuter station today, with a well-used pay-and-display parking area for about 160 cars plus at least 4 disabled bays. The too-tight access road (try going in when a stream of traffic is trying to get out) is directly off the B4450, past a bus stop and shelter, a daytime ticket office, level platform access, and then (if you need it) into the car park.When the modern ticket office is open there is a small waiting area, while the Oxford platform opposite has a smallish but attractive heated waiting room with seats for about 14. Both platforms have remote train announcing and service display screens, though the latter were not working on our visit. The only weakness here is crossing the line. There is only a passenger overbridge and no route for wheelchairs at all. One would have thought that a ramp might have been possible from the road overbridge. But you can arrange help beforehand if you telephone Thames Trains. Wheels: WO. |
SHIPTON station is just north east of the village of Shipton under Wychwood on the A361, with Milton under Wychwood nearby. The level-access Oxford platform is reached by a lane which ends just past the platform, with a layby for 3-4 cars. A modern bus shelter has been recently painted, and nearby is a memorial bench seat in unmistakably Great Western style, courtesy of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group. For something so basic, it's quite attractive. The other side has no facilities at all, with ramp access to a bare platform from an access road that also serves a busy industry and was heavily clogged with large articulated lorries when we visited. If there was allocated parking we didn't see it (correction welcome), and with that amount of traffic, it looked chancy to park there casually. Wheels: WO. |
ASCOTT-UNDER-WYCHWOOD station is just on the northern edge of the village, and right beside the level crossing that effectively marks the village boundary. The platform is off the road to the right, on the village side of the track, with a ramp for wheeled access and an enclosed shelter with a bench seat for six passengers.To the left of the road is a crossing box to control the level crossing, but just west of it, there is what could be the beginning of double track, so at least some services would get faster from that point. Wheels: WO. |
CHARLBURY station is down Dyers Hill (B4437) from the village, and then along an access road from a mini-roundabout. Charlbury is obviously a popular station: cars fill the car park, the approach road and back up Dyers Hill towards the village - the closer parking being pay-and-display. That's 100+ car spaces overall. The line is single track, with a neat traditional Great Western wooden building serving it, and - when the ticket office is open (possibly just for the morning rush) - you can even get the key to the toilet. On the platform, you'll find five bench seats, a monitor displaying train times, and a goldfish pond. Yes, you did read the last bit right! Wheels: WO. |
FINSTOCK Were it not for the large double-arrow station sign, it would be easy to miss Finstock, as it lies outside the village and hidden in a cutting. There is layby parking for a handful of cars and a steepish ramp with a strong handrail down to the two-car single track platform which boasts a half-shelter with seats for three. Hardly any trains stop here. Wheels: WO. |
COMBE has a single-track platform with 3 seats on it and barely more trains stopping at it, so the lack of parking may not be a problem. What makes it distinctive is that there is an overall shelter roughly 8 feet long over the easy-access ramp itself, rather like a tunnel. Since the village is a short distance away and no other shelter is at hand, this small amenity will no doubt be appreciated at times. Wheels: WO. |
HANBOROUGH This station is signed off the A4095 from Oxford, with the left turn immediately after a traffic-light-controlled pedestrian crossing which is raised up on a speed bump. A large railway double-arrow sign usefully marks the spot. The drive down to the station is also an access for a local industry, but about 30 cars can squeeze themselves along it. The station is single track, and there is flat access to the platform which offers 12 tip-up seats in an extended bus-shelter, and two benches outside for milder weather. Wheels: WO. |
OXFORD is a modern station with a ticket office, shops, cash dispensers and a coffee bar in its main building. Access to platform 1 (southbound) is controlled by automatic ticket barriers similar to those used on the London Underground. Platform 3 is the bay at the north end of the same platform. An overbridge gets you to platform 2 for trains to Worcester, Bicester or Leamington Spa (etc.), with lifts behind the steps for those who need them. Canopies cover large areas of both platforms.A bus station lies immediately outside the station building, with paths, steps and ramps down to that lower level, and there is a cycle park for hundreds of bikes as well. A small amount of short term parking is available via the bus station, but the main railway car park is on the other side of Parkend Street with spaces for something like 400 cars, at £3 per day in May 2003. A pedestrian link from the station gets you to it quite quickly, but the road entrance is in Beckett Street, which seems to be one way, so if you were coming up the road (as presented in the plan), you would need to look for the next right turn (into Hollybush Row), and follow that until you could turn right again to reach Beckett Street. After using the railway, keep your ticket to present when leaving the car park, or expect to pay an extra £15 to exit. Wheels: LO. Oxford also serves the Oxford to Leamington Spa route and the Oxford to Bicester branch.
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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. |
Copyright © 2005 Dudley Mall.
