New train station connects Worcester to London, Cardiff & Nottingham

A new £22 million train station has opened in the Midlands today (Sunday) giving local passengers more options when travelling by rail.

Worcestershire Parkway will run frequent services to London Paddington as well as Cardiff and Bristol.

Located in Norton, just a mile outside Worcester city centre, it is the first new rail station to be built in Worcestershire for over 100 years. It takes the pressure off the already-congested Birmingham and Worcester train stations.

The first train passed through the station on Sunday, February 23, and was the 8.30am to London Paddington.

At the station there is a car park with 500 parking spaces, with charges of £5 a day or £3 for the whole day after 10am and at weekends.

Services to Cardiff and London Paddington, Oxford, Nottingham and Derby will operate from there. Great Western Railway services serving Hereford, Great Malvern, Worcester, and the Thames Valley will also pass through the new station.

Other stations served include Pershore, Evesham Gloucester Central, Cheltenham Spa, Ashchurch for Tewkesbury and Birmingham New Street.

Worcestershire Parkway will also have trains on the CrossCountry Cardiff to Nottingham route, a new service which does not stop at any other station in the county.

Worcestershire County Council funded and built the station, and was supported by the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Cyclists are also catered for, with plenty of bike parking. The station will also help to remove traffic from the county’s main roads and motorways.

Currently, there are many commuters that drive the entire journey to major cities such as Bristol, London or Cardiff. Or they drive to larger stations out of Worcestershire to access better parking facilities and faster services to major cities.

The opening of the new facility comes at a time when transport bosses are talking about opening up new stations across Birmingham - including Stirchley and Kings Heath.