Coventry-Nuneaton Line

The Coventry-Nuneaton Line is a short branch line linking Coventry and Nuneaton in the West Midlands of England. The route currently serves Nuneaton, Bedworth and Coventry; however, the line used to also serve many smaller stations.

ervices

All passenger services on the line are operated by London Midland who run an hourly service in each direction, provided by a Class 153 diesel unit. This service usually departs Coventry station from platform one.

Freight trains also use the line, travelling from the Chiltern Main Line via Leamington Spa, heading towards the West Coast Main Line.

History

The line was built by the London and North Western Railway and was opened on the 2 September 1850.

On 26 January 1857, 23 of the 28 arches of the Spon End viaduct collapsed. This meant trains travelling south terminated at Coundon Road railway station while the viaduct was rebuilt. This took 3½ years to complete and services to Coventry were restored on 1 October 1860.

The line was closed to passenger traffic on 18 January 1965 under the Beeching Axe. The line was re-opened under the Speller Act on 11 May 1987 although Nuneaton Abbey Street has now been permanently closed and replaced with Nuneaton Trent Valley, now just Nuneaton. Initially there were no intermediate stations on the re-opened line until 16 May 1988 when the rebuilt Bedworth station was opened.

Future

The line runs near to the Ricoh Arena football stadium on the northern edge of Coventry. While there have been several proposals to build a new station to serve the stadium, the project is still in early stages.