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London North Western Railway:
Midland
Railway:
Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
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Kenilworth Junction
Kenilworth Junction was created by the building of the 'cut
off' branch to Berkswell on 2nd March 1884. The opening of the line to
Berkswell for passenger traffic began on 2 June 1884. For a detailed history
Robin Leach's book 'Rails to Kenilworth and Milverton cannot be bettered. Local
Leamington to Coventry passenger services continued until 1965 when the service
was withdrawn. The Berkswell 'cut off', which had been extensively used as a
diversionary route during the electrification of the Birmingham to London and
Trent Valley lines, was closed on 1st March 1969.
The LNWR had invested considerably in the locality in the
mid-to-late 1880s building not just the Berkswell branch, but also carried out
the doubling of the Leamington to Rugby line together with the the doubling of
the Leamington to Coventry branch as far as the Junction. This reflected both
the need of the LNWR to compete with the GWR for the lucrative Leamington to
Birmingham passenger traffic as well as providing alternative routes for south
bound goods traffic.
Both the London to Birmingham and Trent Valley lines were at
full capacity and therefore there was a pressing need for the LNWR to provide
goods traffic with alternative routes. The Nuneaton to Coventry line was
considered by the LNWR at the time as being one of its most profitable
secondary lines. As the Coventry to Leamington line was a significant adjunct
to this line its not unreasonable to assume it too was a significant generator
of revenue for the company.
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