LMS Route: Rugby to Wolverhampton
LMS Route: Nuneaton to Leamington

Coventry Station: lnwrcov554

A 1920 panoramic aerial view of Coventry station and goods yard with Spence Park footbridge at the bottom and Quinton Road over bridge at the top. The constraint of the original narrow Warwick Row bridge is clear in this view which combined with the curve to the Leamington branch confined the station to a very short length of line. This limitation was recognised by the LMS and in later summer 1939 a start was made to increase the number of platforms. This work would have also lengthened and widen the station and would have resulted in Warwick Road bridge being replaced. The outbreak of the Second World War however intervened and no substantial reconstruction work beyond the initial groundworks occurred. The 1890s redevelopment saw the up platform, on the left, extended further towards Rugby benefiting London bound trains. Trains to Leamington trains were shorter and could exit the up platform via a crossing three-quarters of the way up its length. The down platform, on the right, was also extended but not to the same length as the up being constrained by the curve onto the Leamington branch. To the right of Warwick Road bridge are the L&B railway cottages built to accommodate the station and goods yard staff. These were demolished in the 1960s to make way for new school buildings for King Henry VIII School. To view the layout drawing of the yard relevant to this photograph click here.

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