Coventry–Leamington line

In 1839, an independent company the Warwick and Leamington Union Railway, under the chairmanship of Joseph Frederick Ledsam,[1] submitted plans for a new line connecting Leamington with the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) at Coventry; the plans were approved by an Act of Parliament in 1842. The following year, before the line was built, the Warwick and Leamington Union Railway was purchased by the L&BR, which itself became part of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) three years later.[2]

The line was opened on 9 December 1844 from Coventry via Kenilworth to the original terminus, at what was then known as Leamington station but later became known (after numerous name changes) as Warwick (Milverton) station. The Milverton terminus was inconveniently located a mile from the centre of Leamington, as it had been intended as a compromise to serve both Leamington and Warwick, located midway between the two towns; this was considered unsatisfactory and so, in 1851, the line was extended closer to Leamington town centre and joined end-on to the LNWR's branch line to Rugby. A new, more centrally located station, Leamington Spa (Avenue), was opened on this extension in 1854; this was alongside the rival Great Western Railway (GWR) station at Leamington.[2]

An accident occurred on the line on 11 June 1861, when a bridge collapsed between Leamington and Kenilworth as an empty goods train was passing over it, killing the train driver and fireman.[3]

Map of the route from 1890, showing the now closed Berkswell Loop

Originally built as a single track line, the route between Leamington and Kenilworth was widened to double track in 1884 and the stations at Milverton and Kenilworth were rebuilt; however, the section from Kenilworth Junction to Gibbet Hill Junction, just south of Coventry, remained single track. At the same time, a new cut-off line known as the Berkswell Loop was opened from Kenilworth to Berkswell on the Coventry-Birmingham line. This line avoided Coventry and allowed the LNWR to introduce a direct Leamington to Birmingham service.[2]

The line came under the management of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923 and later British Railways in 1948. In the early 1960s, the line, along with the Leamington-Rugby line, was heavily used as a diversionary route while the West Coast Main Line was being electrified. However, the local passenger service was withdrawn on 18 January 1965, as a result of the Beeching Axe, and Kenilworth, Milverton and Avenue stations were closed. With Avenue station closed, a new connection was built the same year connecting the line to the former GWR Leamington station (previously only a siding had connected the former LNWR and GWR lines at Leamington). The Berkswell Loop was closed on 17 January 1969, after a freight train derailed, and the track was lifted the following year. In 1972, British Rail singled much of the line but retained some double track to form a passing loop at Kenilworth.[2]

In May 1977, British Rail resumed passenger services over the line; this was largely due to the opening of Birmingham International station between Birmingham and Coventry in 1976. This caused British Rail to re-route many of their Birmingham to Oxford, Paddington and south-coast trains via Coventry in order to serve the new station; however, none of the intermediate stations were reopened.[2]

In August 2007, Network Rail reinstated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of double track at the northern end of the line from Park Junction (now removed) to Gibbet Hill Junction in order to increase capacity.[4]

Today, most of the line is single track which limits the number of services using it. What remains of double track includes a passing loop at Kenilworth, along with the lines out from Coventry and Leamington Spa to Gibbet Hill Junction and Milverton respectively.

As of May 2019, the line is used by the hourly West Midlands Trains service between Nuneaton and Leamington, which calls at Coventry and Kenilworth, and the hourly CrossCountry service from Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth, which calls at Coventry and Leamington only.[14] It is also regularly used by freight trains; these are mostly container trains, operated by Freightliner from the Port of Southampton to the Midlands or North of England via Coventry and Nuneaton. In 2009, thirty such trains used the line daily.[15]

In July 2019 Warwickshire County Council put forward proposals for six new stations in the county, one of these would be a new station on the Coventry–Leamington line, in between Coventry and Kenilworth which would serve south Coventry and the University of Warwick. If the plans go ahead this would happen between 2026 and 2033.[16]

In April 2022, the bridge over Rugby Road in Leamington Spa was due to be replaced. The then-current bridge had a 20 mph speed limit due to its poor condition.[17]

• Coventry to Nuneaton line
• Leamington to Rugby line
• Weedon-Leamington line
• Coat of Arms Bridge

• "Books about the Kenilworth branchline". Victorian Kenilworth. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013.
• Anonymous (Winter 1979). Railway Electrification. British Railways Board (Central Publicity Unit). pp. 0–2, 8.
• "Home". Warwickshire's Railways.

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