Oxley Traction and Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot is a

railway depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

located in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, operated by Alstom to maintain

Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...

's British Rail Class 390 ''Pendolino'' stock for the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

History

The GWR on reaching

Wolverhampton Low Level railway station Wolverhampton Low Level was a railway station on Sun Street, in Springfield, Wolverhampton, England. It was built by the Great Western Railway (GWR), on their route from London Paddington to Birkenhead, via Birmingham Snow Hill. It was the ...

in 1854, had built their own broad gauge shed on the opposite side of the Stafford Road to the existing

Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was authorised in 1846. It agreed to joint construction with others of the costly Wolverhampton to Birmingham section, the so-called Stour Valley Line. This work was dominated by the hostile London and North ...

Wolverhampton railway works Wolverhampton railway works was in the city of Wolverhampton in the county of Staffordshire, England. It was almost due north of the city centre, and is commemorated with a small display of level crossing gates and a plaque. Known as the Staff ...

, between the road and the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

line to Crewe. Located opposite and accessible from Dunstall Park railway station, the shed backed onto the Stafford Road, with the throat facing Wolverhampton Low Level. As the major depot of the region, it was constructed as a heavy maintenance repair shop. But the GWR also needed a shed to replace the former S&B shed, which had easier access to the freight yard which was on the opposite side of the line. The decision was taken to build a new GWR standard-pattern two-

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

with northernlight roof shed, toward Wolverhampton Low Level, which opened in July 1907 under the code OXY. Based on the pattern design set by

Old Oak Common Old Oak Common is an area of Hammersmith, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London. Together with neighbouring Park Royal, the area is intended to become the UK's largest regeneration scheme, the scale of which has led to ...

, the narrowness of the site meant that the two turntables were set one behind the other. Provision was however made for two further turntables should the need arise, and so the standard pattern twin-ramp coaling stage was offset to allow for future development. The two lifting shops had overhead hoists, while ash shelters were provided during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In January 1963, both Stafford Road and Oxley came under the control of

London Midland Region The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

, who choose to close the dilapidated Stafford Road with immediate effect. All locomotives and servicing hence moved to Oxley from September 1963, which now gained code 2B. Closed to steam in March 1967, the shed was rebuilt as a diesel maintenance facility, housing both locomotives and DMUs.

Present

After Pendolinos were chosen as the preferred new rolling stock by the former InterCity West Coast Franchise holder

Virgin Trains Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from ...

, Alstom needed maintenance facilities. The entire Pendolino fleet is allocated to the (Alstom) Manchester Traincare Centre at

Longsight Longsight is an inner city suburb of Manchester, England, located south of the city centre. It is bounded by Ardwick and West Gorton to the north; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park and Fallowfield to the west ...

, where heavy maintenance is carried out. Longsight boasts a hoist on which an entire Pendolino set can be lifted. Lighter maintenance, cleaning and overnight stabling is carried out at Alstom's other centres:

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

(

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

); Edge Hill (Liverpool);

Polmadie Polmadie (; gd, Poll Mac Dè, lit=Son of God pool) is a primarily industrial area of Glasgow in Scotland. Situated south of the River Clyde, Polmadie is close to residential neighbourhoods including Govanhill (to the west) and Toryglen (south-e ...

(

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

); and Oxley, which were redeveloped for their purposes. Electrification of the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line from Stafford Road Junction to Oxley, is provided solely to enable electric stock to access Oxley TRSMD, and is therefore constructed as a catenary style suitable for low speeds only. The depot also maintains other stock manufactured by Alstom, including British Rail Class 180, British Rail Class 180 ''Adelante'' DMUs and from 2023 will become the home depot, for Avanti's new British Rail Class 805, Class 805 and British Rail Class 807, 807, under a joint train maintenance agreement between Avanti and Hitachi Rail - the manufacturer of the stated trains.New Hitachi trains to replace Super Voyagers ''Rail (magazine), Rail'' issue 894 18 December 2019 page 6

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Wolverhampton Railway depots in England Rail transport in Wolverhampton