Arley
Trains passing at Arley, with GWR 1501 in charge
General information
Location	Arley,Wyre Forest England
Coordinates	52°25′01″N2°20′53″W / 52.417°N 2.348°W /52.417; -2.348
Grid reference	SO764799
System	Station onheritage railway
Operated by	Severn Valley Railway
Platforms	2
History
Original company	West Midland Railway (Severn Valley Line)
Pre-grouping	GWR
Post-grouping	GWR
Key dates
1 February 1862	Opened[1]
9 September 1963	Closed[1]
18 May 1974	Opened bySVRPS[1]
Location

Arley railway station is a station on theSevern Valley Railway heritage line inWorcestershire, situated just over theRiver Severn from the village ofUpper Arley; a footbridge crosses the river to link the station to the village. The station is about1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) north ofVictoria Bridge, on which the SVR crosses theRiver Severn.

The station was built along with the line in 1862 and opened on 1 February that year.^[1] The firstsignal box was built in 1883, and the platform built to accommodate six coach trains. The main brick-built station building, which holds the booking office, is located on the easterly platform. The local transport needs were met quite adequately, as the local roads and paths were, to say the least, primitive.^{[citation needed]} Passenger trade was busiest with summer holiday visitors, and Arley was home to a small goods yard.

Opened by theWest Midland Railway (Severn Valley Line), and absorbed by theGreat Western Railway on 1 August 1863,^[2] the station stayed with that company during theGrouping of 1923, passing on to theWestern Region of British Railways during thenationalisation of 1948. It was later closed by theBritish Railways Board.

Although closed by the BRB on 9 September 1963^[1] during the implementation of theBeeching Axe, plans for its closure had already been made before Beeching's report was published. The passing loop was taken out, sidings cut up and platforms removed, with only Alveleycoal traffic surviving. In 1969 the line through Arley finally became disused.

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Highley towardsBridgnorth		Severn Valley Railway		Northwood Halt towardsKidderminster Town
Historical railways
Highley Line and station open		West Midland Railway (Severn Valley Line) Great Western Railway		Northwood Halt Line and station open

When the line was reopened by SVR preservationists working up fromBridgnorth in 1974, work got underway to restore Arley to its former glory. The main railway building was in relatively good condition and was totally renovated. The platforms were rebuilt and the track re-laid. A fully signalled passing loop enables full length north and southbound trains to stop and pass each other within the station limits.

The old signal box having been demolished, a replacement of LNWR design was bought from BR and brought in fromYorton, nearWhitchurch, Shropshire, with the lever frame from the Kidderminster station Signalbox that was originally sited on Kidderminster (mainline) station. The station was re-opened on 18 May 1974.^[1]

Arley station has been used as a filming location for several films and TV programmes, such asDisney'sCandleshoe,BBCsitcomOh, Doctor Beeching!,The Box of Delights and theChuckleVision episode "Oh Brother".^[3] The station was also used for the filming of the opening scene of the 2020 filmEnola Holmes.^[4]

• 
  Arley railway station
• 
  Ivatt 4 43106 at Arley station.
• 
  GWR 5700 Class 7714 waits at Arley station, bound for Kidderminster

• Awdry, Christopher (1990).Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN 1-8526-0049-7.OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995).The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.).Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7.OCLC 60251199.OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989).Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0.OCLC 22311137.
• Jowett, Alan (2000).Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers.ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1.OCLC 228266687.
• Station on navigable O.S. map

• Geens, Barrie.The Severn Valley Railway at Arley.ISBN 1-874103-23-2.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2007).Kidderminster to Shrewsbury. Middleton Press. pp. 40–46.ISBN 9781906008109.OCLC 154801530.

• Heritage railway stations in Worcestershire
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1862
• Former Great Western Railway stations
• Severn Valley Railway
• Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1963
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1974
• 1862 establishments in England

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