Stoke-on-Trent  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Pendolino andVoyager trains at the station | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Stoke-upon-Trent,City of Stoke-on-Trent, England | ||||
| Coordinates | 53°00′29″N2°10′52″W / 53.0081°N 2.181°W /53.0081; -2.181 | ||||
| Grid reference | SJ879456 | ||||
| Managed by | Avanti West Coast | ||||
| Platforms | 3 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | SOT | ||||
| Classification | DfT category C1 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | 9 October 1848 | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  0.687 million | ||||
| Interchange | 25,898 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  2.302 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.100 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 2.505 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.127 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 2.943 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.152 million | ||||
| 2024/25 | 3.016 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.177 million | ||||
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Stoke-on-Trent railway station serves the city ofStoke-on-Trent, inStaffordshire, England. It lies on theStafford to Manchester branch of theWest Coast Main Line. It also provides an interchange between local services running through Staffordshire,Cheshire andDerbyshire.
The Victorian station buildings were opened on 9 October 1848; the other buildings located inWinton Square, including theNorth Stafford Hotel, were opened in June 1849. All these buildings were constructed byJohn Jay to the design of H.A. Hunt of London, using an architectural style referred to as "robustJacobean manor-house".[1] The station was built by theNorth Staffordshire Railway Company (NSR) and, until the amalgamation of 1923, housed the company's boardroom and its principal offices.[2]
Stoke-on-Trent is the hub of North Staffordshire's passenger train services. The station also used to have links toLeek, on theBiddulph Valley line viaFenton Manor andEndon;Cheadle;Market Drayton, viaNewcastle-under-Lyme andSilverdale; and was the southern terminus of thePotteries Loop Line toMow Cop and Scholar Green, viaHanley,Burslem,Tunstall andKidsgrove. All of these routes closed to passenger traffic in the 1950s and 1960s, though the line to Leek remained in use for sand and stone traffic to Caldon Low and Oakamoor quarries until the mid-1980s.[3]
On 14 September 2015, the station began its new development project. Platform 1 saw the introduction of automatic ticket barriers in December 2015, along with new fast ticket machines. The historic entrance onto platform 2 following reconstruction work was reopened in February 2016, with new automatic ticket barriers and ticket machines. Alongside this, platform 2 gained a new retail space and the waiting room was also refurbished, opening in January 2016.[4]
The station is situated in Winton Square, which is described as Britain's only piece of major town planning undertaken by a railway company specifically to offset a station building. It is aGrade II* listed building, one of four listed buildings in the square; the North Stafford Hotel, directly opposite the station, is also Grade II* listed, while a statue ofJosiah Wedgwood and a row of railway cottages either side of the square are Grade II listed.[2][5][6]
The building is constructed of dark red brick, with blackdiapering and stone dressings. It has three Dutch-stylegables; the central gable has a prominent first-floor bay window, which is decorativelymullioned, above which is a parapet bearing the NSR's coat of arms. Behind the bay window is the boardroom of the NSR, while the remainder of the upper floor was designed as office space. Either side of the bay window is a terrace, which runs across the top of an arcade of Tuscan columns flanking seven arches, each of which contains afanlight.[2]
The station has three passenger platforms:
There was a central through-line without a platform, but this was removed in May 2009; platform 1 was also lengthened to accommodate longer trains.[citation needed]
Stoke-on-Trent station is owned byNetwork Rail and is managed byAvanti West Coast. The main entrance to the station is from Winton Square, opposite the North Stafford Hotel, into a large modern booking hall; it has an enquiry office, ticket machines, a cashpoint and level access to platform 1. On this platform are the main buildings, refreshment room and bar, free CCTV-covered racks for 66 bicycles, a post box, toilets, a refurbished waiting room, a first class lounge withwi-fi and offices for theBritish Transport Police. There is both a tiled passenger subway and a passenger operated lift connecting platform 1 with 2 and 3.[7]
The station building retains much of its mid-Victorian character, including a classic glazed roof, built in 1893, that spans the platforms. A war memorial, with brass nameplates naming the employees of the North Staffordshire Railway who died duringWorld War I, discreetly flanks the entrance to platform 1. The station underwent restoration work in the 1990s, having fallen into disrepair.[2]
The station lies on both theStafford-Manchester and theCrewe-Derby lines; it is also served by trains between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly via theTrent Valley line.
The station is currently served by fivetrain operating companies; these provide the following general off-peak services, in trains per hour/day (tph/tpd):
London Northwestern Railway:[11]
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CrossCountry | ||||
| East Midlands Railway | ||||
| Longport towardsCrewe | London Northwestern Railway Stafford–Crewe | Stone towardsStafford | ||
| Avanti West Coast | ||||
| Terminus | Northern Trains Stoke-on-Trent – Manchester Piccadilly | |||
| Terminus | Limited Service | |||
| Previous services | ||||
| CrossCountry Peak Hours Only Monday-Saturday Only | ||||
| Historical railways | ||||
Line open, station closed | North Staffordshire Railway | Line open, station closed | ||
| North Staffordshire Railway | Line open, station closed | |||
| North Staffordshire Railway Sandbach to Stoke Line | Terminus | |||
| Disused railways | ||||
Line and station closed | North Staffordshire Railway | Terminus | ||
| Terminus | North Staffordshire Railway | Line and station closed | ||
Freight trains on Mondays, carrying Cornish clay for use in Stoke's pottery industry, pass through the station. These trains supply anindustrial spur line atCliffe Vale, just north of Stoke station.
Freight trains on Fridays also take various freight wagons from Arpley Sidings, nearWarrington, to Axiom Rail (Stoke Marcroft) for general repairs, maintenance and sometimes conversions. The return up to Arpley Sidings, with completed wagons, normally happens on the same day.
There are proposals to reopen the mothballedStoke–Leek line.[13][14] This would allowLeek to be reconnected to the National Rail network for the first time in 40 years, viaFenton Manor, allowing for future metro services.[15][16] The plan has received approval from the county council and is in the early construction phase of a new station atLeek and the connecting railway.
Local bus services serve two stops on Station Road, which are provided byFirst Potteries,D&G Bus andArriva. Routes run toHanley, Stoke-on-Trent, andNewcastle-under-Lyme town centres, and alsoKeele University. Most services connect atHanley bus station.[17]
In October 2020, Stoke-on-Trent City Council proposed a tram network. Stoke station would connect to Hanley, with onward trams toTunstall andBurslem.[18]
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The original, now disused, goods yard lies behind the northbound platforms. There were various proposals for its use, including an "iconic" conference centre. However, in April 2007,Virgin Trains announced that 264 new car parking spaces would be made available at Stoke-on-Trent station by January 2009, adding to the two existing small car parks.[19] A new access road, junction and traffic lights were constructed to serve the goods yard road entrance, when the A500 upgrade was completed in 2006/7. The new car park opened October 2009.
Winton Chambers (a self-contained section of the main station building, including the entire upper floor) is currently leased to theUniversity of Staffordshire, which has its main Stoke-on-Trent campuses in College Road, off Station Road, and in Leek Road nearby. The university also leases nos. 1, 2 & 3 Winton Square and nos. 4 & 5 Winton Square which, with theNorth Stafford Hotel and the current station, comprise the original 1848 station complex. There is also aSubway outlet situated to the right of the hotel.
Directly opposite the station entrance is the statue of potterJosiah Wedgwood (1730–1795), sculpted by Edward Davis and erected in 1863. Wedgwood holds in his hand an exact copy of thePortland Vase, the reproduction of which showed the British that they could at last surpass the achievements of the finest craftsmen of theRoman Empire. The statue stands in front of the North Stafford Hotel.
Also directly opposite the station is the British Pottery Manufacturer's Federation Club (The Potter's Club), which is a large private members' club situated in Federation House. Established in 1951, it is run for the benefit of the many local pottery manufacturers.
Also the mainRoyal Mail depot for Stoke-on-Trent is located opposite the station, next to the North Stafford Hotel. Until the early 1990s, mail arrived from all over the county into Stoke station and then transferred across the road to the sorting office.
Staffordshire University has expanded rapidly in recent years[when?] and a large area to the north-east of the station is now seen as a developing University Quarter.[20] It now absorbs the relocated sixth-form college, previously sited a mile or so to the south atFenton, and the main further education college just to the north and possibly also the Burslem campus of Stoke-on-Trent College. This £150m "quarter regeneration" will also entail investment in the immediate surroundings of the station.[citation needed]
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