Worcester Foregate Street railway station, opened by the Great Western Railway in 1860 in the centre of Worcester, England, is the smaller of the two stations serving the city, but more centrally located. The other station, Worcester Shrub Hill, is to the east. A third station is located just outside the city to the south-east. The station layout is unusual in that travelling east the two platforms serve different routes, rather than different directions. Platform 1 can only be accessed by trains via Worcester Shrub Hill, while Platform 2 can only be accessed from the east by trains running directly to and from Droitwich Spa, avoiding Shrub Hill. Similar examples of this type of layout can be found at in Fife and in Lancashire. This means that Great Western Railway services can only stop at Platform 1, as all of these trains stop at Shrub Hill. There is a cafe called Cafe Loco at the end of Platform 1 in the old signal box. The station itself is built on a viaduct, meaning that space for expansion is restricted, but the platforms are nevertheless of ample length to accommodate an HST. Despite its small size, the remains of two signal boxes can be seen, one spanning the tracks and the second now the station cafe.
History
The station opened on 17 May 1860. It was originally part of the Hereford and Worcester Railway which was incorporated into the WestMidland Railway, before being absorbed by the Great Western Railway. On 1 January 1948 the company became Government owned under British Railways. The Butts Spur line was also constructed in 1860 with the unfulfilled aim of connecting the station to Diglis for the conveyance of freight. Since 1973 the station has had an unusual layout, being essentially two single-track lines side by side rather than the ordinary double-track layout which it appears to be. The two single lines run from Henwick, on the other side of the River Severn, through Foregate Street, to the site of the former Rainbow Hill Junction to the east of the station, which used to provide a crossover between the two tracks. At this point the lines diverge with that on the north side heading towards Tunnel Junction and Droitwich Spa, while the southern track leads to Worcester Shrub Hill. Rainbow Hill Junction was removed when the signalling in the area was remodelled in 1973. Since then, platform 1 has only been usable by trains running via Shrub Hill, and platform 2 only by trains running directly to or from Droitwich without calling at Shrub Hill. Signs at the station warn of "Two-way working on both lines". The station celebrated its 150th birthday on 23 May 2010 with the unveiling of a plaque and a special train that ran to Great Malvern railway station. The art gallery Movement opened on platform 2 on 2 October 2010. The station was upgraded in 2014, which included a refurbished subway, two new entrances with automatic doors, relocation of the lift at the second entrance to be enclosed in the station building and conversion of one of the railway arches into a bike shelter. The bridge was also strengthened and repainted.
Services
The station is served by two train operating companies: West Midlands Trains and Great Western Railway. West Midlands Trains operate services to Birmingham via two different routes, either to Birmingham New Street via Bromsgrove or to Birmingham Snow Hill via Kidderminster. There is an hourly service between Hereford and New Street and two trains per hour to Snow Hill, with many of the latter running beyond to either or ; some also originate/terminate at on this route. Great Western Railway operate a regular service to London Paddington via the Cotswold Line and Oxford, a service to Bristol Temple Meads via with extensions through to and and a daily service to Southampton Central and. Many of the trains on both these routes run to/from Great Malvern, though the ones that start and finish at Shrub Hill have convenient connections from here.
