Wilnecoat train station is located between tamworth and birminghan new street, and is served by…read morecrosscountry trains on a limited service. The station is alo run by crosscountry trains, however it does not feature a ticket office or machine and tickets can be purchused onboard the train with no penalty fare. Services run to Derby, Nottingham, Birmingham, and Cardiff Central stations. Wilnecoat train station has limited services, therefore its is advisbale to check the train times before travel, but the majority of services are run in the peak times of morning and evening during the working week, as the timetable has changed recently in december, there have been a number of changes at the station with service numbers.

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.

This is an ideal station for people needing to park to get the train to Birmingham City. The…read morestation boasts two large car parks and offers wheelchair access throughout. This train line is one of the busiest in the West Midlands. It stretches as far as Lichfield (Staffordshire) and goes through to Longbridge and Redditch calling at several main town stations such as Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Aston and of course Birmingham New Street. So if you are a shopper this is the station to get your train from. The office here is manned part-time and mainly covers the peak time slots. The staff are friendly and willing to help and they keep the car parks and surrounding areas clean and tidy. There are shelters on the platforms so if the heavens open up you can keep dry until your train arrives. This station is located on the outskirts of Four Oaks and has a large pub/restaurant next to it called the Blake Barn Inn. There is a small convenience store just a few minutes up from the station and a few minutes after that you are lead out onto the main Lichfield Road.

It's one of the quietest and relatively attractively-set stations on the Cross-City Line which…read morelinks Lichfield to Birmingham. A huge ticket office and car park boost the site and while there is a dingy underpass letting you switch platforms, it really is quite safe. Typical of the stations across the Sutton stretch of the line, the staff are particularly friendly. Despite the car park, it's not overly blessed as a viable park and ride option and over the years, residents have been increasingly complaining about commuters' ditched cars clogging up roads outside their homes. Do them a favour and drive to Four Oaks station (two stops along). That said, the location makes the activity tempting as it's just a short trip into Sutton Coldfield from here and, as the last stop within the northern end of the Birmingham boundary, also a short ride into Lichfield. If you've been using the station simply as a point to begin a rail journey, don't dismiss the idea of having a look around the estate on which it's based - the Blake Barn pub is nearby and scores not too badly with its outdoor seating and great meal deals.

The UK's Southeastern Railway operates one of the busiest networks in the country, running the…read moretrain service between London and Kent and parts of East Sussex.. Gayle and I recently were on their system for a round trip (St. Pancras to Faversham and Canterbury West back to Charring Cross). We sat regular class on slower "local" trains both ways, which were basically commuter runs. The price was right, we had lots of room to spread out as there were few fellow passengers, the ride was comfortable, and the scenery out the window was interesting enough. I'm not sure I'd want to commute like this every day, but that's the bargain that a lot of folks make to live in a nice area that's not the big city.

Southeastern Railway is currently owned by London & South Eastern Railway Limited, it operates…read moreroutes on the Integrated Kent franchise by Govia, who in turn is owned by two rather big players in the UK transportation game including Go-Ahead (largest bus operator in London, Manchester and offering services in other cities) and Keolis (A truly worldwide company who operate buses in Sweden, trains in Boston, the Metro in Shanghai as well as services closer to home such as Manchester's Metrolink, the DLR in London and TFW Rail services.) While the interior of my train wasn't overly impressive or modern, it was comfortable for a short journey of 10 minutes between Charring Cros and London Bridge which also goes via Waterloo East, this is a zone where you can use your Oyster meaning it can work out pretty cheap to travel in comparison to a normal ticket. This journey only came to £2.40, with a daily cap of £7.20 for all zone 1 and 2 services in the cap which includes national rail, tube, DLR and buses. Trains seemed to operate efficiently and quickly with services every two minutes between these destinations and the train staff seemed friendly enough at both stations, although I didn't see a train staff member on board which could be down to it being a short journey. The website is easy to use and explains the ticketing system including Oyster well. Southeastern has 73 stations in the Oyster PAYG area (the price varies between zones obviously between 1 and 9), which is one of the highest of any railway operating company and I presume is second after TFL Rail. I would recommend going along their central London route between London Bridge and Charing Cross via Waterloo East just for the view, with trains every 2-3 minutes during the day (which didn't get busy outside of rush hour) and a journey lasting just under 8 minutes, it is worth it for some great views on the bridge crossing including Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye. 3*

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 .

Nuneaton is a Category C1 station (small feeder), serving the West Midlands town. It is run by West…read moreMidlands Trains It is around an hour and a half away from London with West Midlands but services can go up to 2 hours. Avanti also uses this station onto their Manchester - London route however the train only stops at certain times, normally early in the morning and late at night. Interestingly, Manchester City tends to use this station when going to Leicester as they did the day before the game I actually attended (they put a stop request on an Avanti service). The station is also served by Cross Country on Birmingham to Leicester route, with some services going onto Stansted Airport. It is a pretty basic station with a bridge-link / lifts between platforms, I do think they could be a little clearer with finding the right lift for the right platform though. The staff at the station seemed friendly enough however I did notice him giving incorrect advice to a customer whos train was cancelled. He told them to head back into Manchester and try to get a return train from there, even though there was no possible route between Nuneaton and where he wanted to get to and all that would have changed is he would have been stranded at a slightly nearer station, the railway company should have ordered some form of taxi replacement, endorsing his ticket to a closer station which he didn't do. I didn't notice any shops/cafes in the station, strangely even WHSmith which seems to have a base at almost every category C and above railway station and airport was absent here, so the station is pretty basic considering it has multiple services across multiple providers and seven platforms. Pretty basic station yet still providing late trains into Manchester helped me and many football fans get home after watching Manchester City's 1-0 win at Leicester. 2*

My mum always tells me that the stretch of line between Nuneaton and Birmingham is one of the most…read morecongested and used bits of railway line in the country. so THAT'S why it costs an arm and a leg to get from Nuneaton to Birmingham. It's over a tenner and you can't buy returns, which to be honest is disgraceful considering it's a relatively short journey. Anyway I guess that's not the stations fault. Nuneaton is quite a big station considering the size of the town, but it's on the mainline going from manchester to London so a lot of trains run through it. You can get to London Euston in just over an hour, which is pretty good. It;s a clean and tidy station and has a nice cafe and newsagents on platform 1.

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.

Water Orton is a really beautiful station that I have spotted in my way to Coleshill area and I was…read morereally impressed with this lovely gem placed in the North Warwickshire, still a Birmingham post code. Opened in 1842, Water Orton started to be operated by London Midlands just in 1909, with traces of its original station building. There is a free car parking next to the station where you can have another privileged view of its platforms and even it's just a simple and not busy stop, it's still possible to contemplate the traces of a historical site there. The service can be a bit confusing if you are not used to this. As there is no trains announcement or display boards, it's better to get your own train timetables to don't miss your service! The trains to Birmingham and Leicester are on platform 1 and on Platform 2 there is just service for Derby. There is no train operation on Sundays. One curiosity about its facilities: during the famous tornado that hit Birmingham in 1996, the wooden staircase of this station was damaged and it had to be replaced, changing it originals for a zig zag styled one. Despite its simplicity in the service, Water Orton station is part of one of those landmarks in Birmingham and it also takes you to an area of the city with fine restaurants, lovely pubs and independent shops ready to be explored.

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.