Northwood Halt is an unstaffed
request stop
In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...
on the
Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...
in
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
, situated a little to the north of
Bewdley on the outskirts of the
Wyre Forest at the north end of North Wood. There is an ungated
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
just to the south of the single platform. It is the only surviving original halt on the line.
History
The halt first opened in June 1935 and was in use until the end of
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
passenger services north of
Bewdley in 1963. Although thought by some people to have been closed as part of the Beeching axe in 1963 its planned closure pre-dated his report. It was well used by fishermen, ramblers and tourists, and was reopened immediately after the SVR's southerly extension of services in 1974. Northwood Halt is not included in the public timetable.
The level crossing is now protected by light signals and an audible warning; this system replaced hand-operated gates, the scene of two serious accidents in 1947 and 1964.
Upon reopening the only shelter for passengers awaiting trains was a wooden shed. This was subsequently replaced with a
GWR style pagoda that was constructed by volunteers at Kidderminster.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Visitor guide to Northwood Halt
{{Worcestershire railway stations
Heritage railway stations in Worcestershire
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1935
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1963
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1974
Former Great Western Railway stations
Severn Valley Railway