Coventry Arena railway station

Coventry Arena railway station is a railway station on the Coventry-Nuneaton Line. Located to the north of Coventry, England, it serves the adjacent Coventry Arena, for which it is named. It was opened on 18 January 2016, along with Bermuda Park station^[1] after considerable delays.^[2][3]

Coventry Arena
Station soon after opening in January 2016
General information
Location	Coventry England
Grid reference	SP344833
Managed by	West Midlands Railway
Transit authority	Transport for West Midlands
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	CAA
Fare zone	5
Key dates
18 January 2016	Opened
Passengers
2018/19	111,462
2019/20	122,400
2020/21	25,452
2021/22	68,134
2022/23	107,660
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail & Road

Although the station was intended to serve the adjacent arena, it was announced in August 2015 that the station would be closed for one hour preceding and following football matches, rugby matches and concerts on safety grounds as there was insufficient rolling stock to run the services necessary for spectators:^[4] while six-carriage trains could be chartered to run every half-an-hour during weekends, the fares generated would not cover the chartering cost.^[3]

History

No previous station has existed at this site. However, the former Longford & Exhall station, which closed in 1949, was situated around 1⁄2 mile (800 m) to the north.

Funding for the new station was approved in December 2011. However, a number of setbacks meant that construction did not begin until October 2014 with services projected to start in June 2015, although this was later pushed back several times.^[5] The station opened together with Bermuda Park station in Nuneaton on 18 January 2016.^[6][7]

Services

One train per hour calls in each direction Mondays to Saturdays throughout the day, with southbound trains continuing to Leamington Spa via Coventry and Kenilworth and northbound services running towards Nuneaton via Bedworth. Sunday services do not start running until after 10am, but then run hourly until end of service.^[8]

In September 2015 it was revealed that Coventry City Council were looking into the possibility of using converted London Underground D78 Stock to run extra services on match days, although this did not happen.^[9]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Coventry		West Midlands Railway Leamington–Coventry–Nuneaton		Bedworth

References

1. "New stations are opened but matchday rail services are still off the timetable". Nuneaton News. Retrieved 18 January 2016.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. "Coventry reacts to Ricoh Arena rail station delays: 'Embarrassing for the city!'". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
3. "Ricoh Arena railway station hit by further delays". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
4. "Coventry City FC and Wasps RFC fans warned not to use new Ricoh Arena train station". Coventry Telegraph. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
5. "Work starts on new Ricoh Arena station". Coventry Telegraph. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
6. "Coventry Arena and Bermuda Park railway stations open". BBC News. BBC. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
7. Coventry Arena & Bermuda Park stations open for public use Rail issue 793 3 February 2016 page 22
8. "National Rail Timetable | Leamington Spa to Coventry and Nuneaton | Table 071" (PDF). Network Rail.
9. "London Underground tube trains could be used to sort Ricoh Arena station fiasco". Coventry Telegraph. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.

External links

Media related to Coventry Arena railway station at Wikimedia Commons –

52.4469°N 1.4948°W / 52.4469; -1.4948