Coventry Arena railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

on the Coventry-Nuneaton Line. Located in the north of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, it serves the adjacent

Coventry Building Society Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currently home to footb ...

, for which it is named. It was opened on 18 January 2016, along with Bermuda Park station after considerable delays. Combined with the stadium's parking it provides a

Park and Ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...

facility. The station has two platforms on the double tracked line. The northbound platform, adjacent to the stadium, is three cars long, but the southbound platform is 6 cars long. Step-free access is provided to both platforms, and there are gates and holding facilities to cope with event-days at the Coventry Building Society Arena. Although the station was intended to serve the adjacent arena, it was announced in August 2015 that the station will be closed for one hour preceding and following football matches, rugby matches and concerts on safety grounds: there is insufficient rolling stock to run the services necessary for spectators: while six-carriage trains could be chartered to run every half-an-hour during weekends, the fares generated would not cover the chartering cost. The then operator

London Midland London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia. London Midland was created as a result of Gov ...

stated that the rolling stock restriction limited services to one train an hour using a single-coach unit, which can only seat 75 people. In September 2015 it was revealed that Coventry City Council were looking into the possibility of using converted

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

D-trains to run extra services on match days, although this did not happen. In 2019, two-coach units took over the running of the service.

History

No previous station has existed at this site. However, the former Longford and Exhall station, which closed in 1949, was situated around 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. The station opened together with Bermuda Park railway station in Nuneaton on 18 January 2016.

Services

One train per hour calls in each direction Mondays to Saturdays throughout the day, with southbound trains continuing to and . Sunday services do not start running until just before noon, but then run on the same frequency as on weekdays thereafter until end of service (but to Coventry only southbound).

References

{{coord, 52.4469, -1.4948, type:railwaystation_region:GB-COV, display=title Railway stations in Coventry Railway stations opened by Network Rail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2016 Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains