As Hannah noted before me this is a weird railway station. I would add the word desolate! Weird…read morebecause it is on multiple levels making it very customer unfriendly if (like me today) you are laden with a heavy suitcase from airline travel to London. No staff to guide you so I could have made a connection but no idea if it was the right train. And it was I discovered just too late - oh well next one in 25 minutes.

On the train as I make this, it's fairly quite and seems to be quick, train wait isn't too long.read more

Historic old station is Sutton Coldfield, and one of the few on the Cross City line which manages…read moreto preserve it's old look and feel whilst still having modern facilities. The station has at least four different entrances which makes it easily accessible whichever direction you're travelling from. There's also a big car park and a new lift for disabled access. The Birmingham-bound platform has a self-service ticket machine which is ideal as it saves a long slog to the ticket office, the platform is also covered which helps on rainy days and there's a small newsagents which is run by a very friendly gentleman. One of the problems with the station is that the entrance next to the Station pub closes early which means you either have to walk all the way round to the main entrance on Railway Road or down a dark alley to enter the platform through a gate further down. If the gate's open, you might as well leave the door open a bit longer, surely?

This station just about offers a blast from the past; a window into how things were and cannot be…read moreagain. It was once the scene of a major rail tragedy back in the days of steam engines, but it's the waiting rooms and awnings which speak of the '50s loudest. For all that, despite the recent installation of a lift, things don't feel all that pleasant, with new infrastructure and branding making for a jarring experience. It always seems that bit too dingy and dusty. It's not that well laid-out either, with running commuters a common sight as they try to navigate their way up a ramp from the Lichfield-bound platform, through the ticket office, and down the steps to the Birmingham-bound platform. It's a journey in itself. This is why Four Oaks has a link bridge over the tracks. A handy tip now: The Birmingham platform (complete with auto-ticket machine) and indeed the stairs leading up to the ticket office can be accessed via a doorway at the end of Station Street by The Station Hotel pub. If you're already in the heart of commercial Sutton, this can save you the job of walking the incline to the formal Railway Road entrance. But be warned, this entrance is not always open and you could find yourself having to access the Railway Road entrance anyway, adding a precious minute or two onto your itinerary; not ideal if your train is due. There is parking, with access further along Railway Road. Both platforms are well-sheltered, all too rare on the Cross-City Line, and on the Birmingham-bound platform, there is a small shop. Near the shop is an access to Park Road; the fourth entrance / exit to the station.

Of the four disused Sutton stations on the Sutton Park line (Sutton Town, Sutton Park, Penns and…read moreStreetly), the last two are the ones which have been most completely obliterated from the landscape. Whereas Sutton Town still has both buildings standing and Sutton Park has the ruins of its two platforms. Anyone looking for a hint of past railway activities in Walmley will be sorely disappointed. Up until recently, vague traces of where the station (which shut in the mid 1960s) had been visible from the railway bridge at the Walmley Village end of Penns Lane. Some work done on the line not so long ago means that nowadays even these feint outlines no longer exist either. If you're interested in local history, it's worth maybe a look over the bridge if you happen to be walking past but unless you've got a VERY good imagination, stick to seeing what old pictures you can find.

The Northern end of the Severn Valley Railway nestles below castle hill with its tilting Castle…read moretower keep which leans further than the Tower of Pisa all as a consequence of Cromwell forces not using sufficient gunpowder trying to blow it up . The station itself is a bustling terminus of the steam railway taking you back to the heyday of steam trains . It hosts a great pub serving lovely real ales a great place to relax on a cold winters day with its open fires . There's the engine maintenance sheds to see too on special events .

Does the job to Birmingham New Street and back…read more Fun fact, the Queen has visited this Station, the reason it had a fresh coat of paint at the time.

Tame Bridge Parkway is a useful little station on the main Walsall to Birmingham line. It lies on…read morea convenient commuter route half way between West Bromwich and Walsall and well connected by the legendary 404 bus route. Parking is free. Places can be at a premium after about 8.15am in the morning and overspill often takes in the road to the car park itself. There is an automatic machine to buy tickets and a ticket office to duck out of the rain from or if you just want to grab today's copy of the Metro. There are no toilet facilities or snack machines though. Due to the location of Tame Bridge Parkway, if trains are cancelled, you would be forced to take the 404 to West Bromwich and get the metro or the 74/75 (the former taking 15 mins, the latter taking as long as it needs to to clear Handsworth).

A convenient train station with trains pulling into Birmingham New Street 20 minutes later…read more There is a free car park which gets full during the week days with commuters, but I have been known to arrive here at 11am or later and there has been the odd space despite the cars parking on the road. There is one self serve ticket machine outside, and a ticket counter inside the waiting area which is always manned. There is no toilet here which would be a nice addition as would a little coffee hatch. All in all a good station that is always kept clean and tidy.

The station is very convenient for me - just an £8 pound taxi ride from home. It is not the best in…read moreconnectivity unless you want to go to Cardiff, Manchester, Nottingham or a few other cities - Plymouth, Bristol for example. However to get to London you can just take one stop to Tamworth and then change for direct to London - that is my plan today. The station is not really very inviting but they do have a small news and coffee shop and (very important on a cold winters day like today!) a heated waiting room serving both platforms. In summary - thank goodness for little stations like this that connect you with everywhere in England, Scotland and Wales affordable and without having to drive! Review #92 2019

Burton Upon Trent is located between Derby an Birmingham. Burton Upon Trent rail station is…read moreoperated and managed by Cross Country Trains, which operate frequent services between Nottingham and Birmingham New Street / Cardiff Central. Crosscountry services run twice every hour to Nottingham, and once hourly to Birmingham, and once hourly to Cardiff Central. Cross Country high speed services to the South West, and th North East stop at the station, however these are less freqent, and occur mosty during the morning and evening commute.

Down the Cross City line from Sutton Coldfield, or up from Chester Road if you're heading that way…read more(actually, a trainspotter would say you were heading up from Sutton and down from Chester Road, but that's a different kettle of anoraks) is Wylde Green - a sleepy little station in a leafy little part of town. The station is effectively nothing more than a place to pick up and drop passengers off and has no facilities other than a ticket office and a whole heap of stairs to get up the platform (a right bugger if the train's just pulling in as you're buying your ticket!) and is a very modern metal and concrete construction with very long platforms. One upside to the place is that you can walk off the Sutton end of both platforms and walk along a path which leads you up onto Highbridge Road, which makes access pretty easy from all directions.

A ticket booth rather than office just about provides a roof for those in the queue, but that's…read moreabout all the shelter you'll find until you're on the platform themselves. It has two, one taking commuters towards Brum, the other towards Lichfield. From Station Road, you access the to-New Street trains by passing the ticket booth and navigating a wide but steep stairwell. For Lichfield, you access the platform by ramp. Those amount to exits too, but you can access and leave both platforms away from Station road and further into the residential streets towards Jockey Road. And that's the thing, despite the name of this station, this is still essentially a central Sutton stop, the best point by which to access Boldmere or Beeches Walk's restaurants and pub, perhaps even Empire cinema. If you want Wylde Green's commercial strip running alongside Birmingham Road, or even Penns Lane, Chester Road is the station to use. There is parking at Wylde Green railway station, and it has been expanded within the last couple of years, but there remain better park and ride options at stations along the Sutton stretch of the Cross-City Line, particularly Four Oaks. Don't expect a shop or vending machine either. This is simply about getting you from A to B.

Centrally located train station in the heart of Walsall underneath the Saddlers Centre. Trains go…read moredirect to Birmingham New Street (4 per hour) and Wolverhampton (2 per hour). Station facilities are very basic but the nearby shops in the Saddlers Centre provide ample provisions ... until that is they close. After 6pm, there isn't a whole lot of facilities but I have a soft spot for Walsall (being my home town) despite this problem.

This station is so small. Only 3 platforms. To be perfectly honest it is probably the best place in…read moreWalsall-the way out. Clean enough, not too busy and attached to the shopping centre. Didn't have much time waiting around or shopping as was obviously in a rush to get back to Birmingham City center!