Kenilworth Station
Kenilworth Station saw its first fare paying passenger on
9th December 1844 when the Coventry to Leamington (Milverton) single branch
line was opened. The only intermediate station on the route, Kenilworth, was
'Italianate' in style and had a pitched roof that also covered the platform
supported by ornate cantilevered brackets. The structure was designed by the L
& B resident engineer, Robert Dockray.
The traffic levels were originally thought to be easily
handled by one locomotive, an estimate soon apparently wrong. The traffic
levels forced the L & B, later the LNWR, to provide both a passing loop,
sidings and a second platform at Kenilworth. Traffic grew to such an extent,
both directly for the area as well as being an alternative through route
avoiding the L & B and Trent Valley lines, that the lines were doubled from
what became Kenilworth Junction to Rugby via Leamington. In addition, a cut off
was initiated to avoid Coventry by a double track to Berkswell.
This increase in traffic warranted the building of a new
station which was duly completed in 1883. The rebuilding also embraced
remodelling of the station's layout which saw the location of the goods yard
and coal yard reversed. The goods yard becoming the coal yard and vice-a-versa.
The typical lack of foresight that is apparently a national characteristic,
particularly in the 1960s relating to the railways, saw the station closed to
goods traffic on 4 January 1965 and passenger traffic on 18th January 1965.
People interested in learning more about Kenilworth Station
could do no better than read Robin Leach's book 'Rails to Kenilworth and
Milverton' (1999) and his earlier piece 'Kenilworths Railway Age' (1985) both
published by Odibourne Press.
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