25 Places with two stations: 19 Worcester

Saturday 20th September 2025

I didn’t originally have Worcester on my list for this series by dint of the 2020 opening of Worcestershire Parkway making it a three station city. However, after lobbying from my Worcester based friend and former bus industry colleague, Iain Macbriar, who quite rightly pointed out Worcestershire Parkway is in Worcestershire (as its name implies) and lies outside the city boundary, I was easily persuaded to change priorities not least as it gives an opportunity to highlight a number of notable oddities about this city’s two stations.

First oddity is although Worcester Foregate Street has two platforms and a seemingly double track running through the station, it is actually two single tracks with trains arriving and departing from different places on each of the tracks.

The track for Platform 1 can only be used by trains coming to and from the city’s other station, Worcester Shrub Hill and beyond, while Platform 2’s track only takes trains north to (and from) Droitwich Spa and beyond. South of Worcester Foregate Street’s platforms there’s a crossover at Henwick Junction where trains can swap over to the southbound track from Platform 2 and they become double track again.

Here’s a diagram courtesy of Wikipedia which shows how trains (run by West Midlands Trains) continue north from Droitwich Spa either via Kidderminster or Bromsgrove to Birmingham with the former serving Snow Hill and Moor Street and the latter University and New Street. The former continue to Dorridge and Stratford-upon-Avon while the latter terminate in Birmingham New Street.

South of Foregate Street trains continue to Great Malvern or Hereford operated by both West Midlands Trains and GWR, although the former only uses platform 2 and the latter can only use platform 1 as those trains come from Shrub Hill. So passengers bound for Hereford need to be careful which platform they’re waiting on as trains head there from both.

GWR’s trains from Platform 1 to Shrub Hill continue to either Oxford and London Paddington or Cheltenham and Bristol.

Here’s an adaptation of the OS map to illustrate what I’ve tried to describe as well as showing the locations of both stations in the city, which are around a 12-15 minute walk apart (or a two minute train journey).

And, perhaps even better, here’s an extract from Traksy which also explains the layout.

From the foregoing readers may appreciate that over at Shrub Hill where the double tracks are more traditionally double tracks, and bi-directional at that, passengers can catch a train to Great Malvern and Hereford, Oxford and Paddington as well as Cheltenham and Bristol and also West Midlands Trains services to Kidderminster, Birmingham and on to Dorridge and Stratford-upon-Avon call in and then change direction back out again.

The second oddity is at Shrub Hill where there’s a splendid display of old style semaphore signals still in use at the north end of the platforms. It’s nice to see some old style signaling as it becomes more of a rarity on Britain’s railways these days. These signals control the passage of trains from both platforms 1 (to Foregate Street) and 2 (to Droitwich Spa)

As you can see from the Traksy diagram there’s also a centre track running through Shrub Hill with a buffer stop at the northern end as can just about be seen in the photo below.

The next rather nice oddity is still at Shrub Hill where there’s a magnificently restored Victorian waiting room on Platform 2.

This was originally constructed in 1864 and divided into a Ladies Waiting Room, First Class (and later Third Class) Waiting Rooms.

It’s Grade II listed and was restored by Network Rail in 2015 with help from the Railway Heritage Trust being returned to its use as a gender neutral waiting room and, these days, an information point rather than a First Class (or Third Class) waiting room.

The unusual tile clad structure is believed to have been originally created as a prototype exhibition structure – the building facade is cast iron, with the combination of external tiling and cast iron making it a unique survivor of the Victorian period.

It really is all rather lovely and one of the best waiting rooms on Britain’s rail network.

Another oddity at Shrub Hill is it used to have a claim to fame of leading to Britain’s most dangerous bus stop along side on Tolladine Road, at the bottom of a public footpath away from the station.

Called Station Steps, I paid a visit specifically to see it and catch a bus from there in 2019…

… but I see it’s now been discontinued, as although it’s still shown on Google Maps as a bus stop…

… there’s now no sign of a bus stop flag and I certainly wouldn’t risk waiting there again.

You’re literally waiting in the road on a blind bend…

… at the bottom of some steps…

… at the end of the footpath from the station.

I see the ivy on the wall has grown in the last six years since I was last there, making it even harder for you to see the traffic coming and them to see you.

I’m not surprised it’s been discontinued.

It would never pass a risk assessment these days.

Back at Foregate Street there’s been another bus stop change as Iain tells me the northbound bus stop for the station used to be sited under the railway bridge providing ample shelter for waiting passengers and easy access to the station opposite…

… but it’s now been resited further north beyond a taxi rank, where the old bus stop used to be, so has its own small bus shelter for passengers to wait in and a longer walk to and from the station.

The station entrance/exit to Foregate Street is sited within the railway arches under the viaduct with a West Midlands Trains Travel Centre to greet you…

… except it was closed on Saturday when I visited, but good to see one of these rare facilities still available…

… and just beyond that as you enter the station…

… on your left there are three ticket machines and a departure screen…

…and hidden behind that central pillar is a ticket office with two windows.

There’s then a subway which takes you under the tracks to access Platform 2…

… which also has it’s own entrance/exit to and from Foregate Street outside.

Alongside this entrance/exit one of the arches has been converted into a cycle store.

It’s a rather long climb up to platform level…

… but there are lifts to each platform…

… for those with accessibility needs or just not up to climbing so many steps.

Oddly, the steps to Platform 2 are marked for passengers to use the right hand side to go down, whereas on Platform 1 it’s more the traditional British way of going down on the left hand side.

There’s a waiting room on Platform 2, albeit not in the same class as over at Shrub Hill…

… but I rather liked the West Midlands Trains’ corporate colours as applied to the bench seats on the platform itself.

Platform 1 has a locked information point and toilets…

.. and a Café Loco…

… which I would have thought would have greater footfall on Platform 2 which struck me as the busier of the two with West Midlands Trains’ departures direct to Droitwich Spa and Birmingham

Compared to Foregate Street, Shrub Hill is a much grander affair with a sweeping driveway up to the main entrance where taxis also wait for custom under a porte cochère structure.

The whole effect is lost somewhat by the brutal seventies office block built in front of the station together with a parking area.

Stepping out from the exit under the porte cochère you get a splendid uninterrupted view of the office block and can imagine the city behind that.

Entering the building brings you to the ticket office with a ticket machine for when the office is closed (as it was when I visited) …

… but note the rather nice original sign above the window.

… and a waiting room the other side leading to another Café Loco…

… where you have to buy something if you want to use the seats in that room.

Outside on Platform 1 for fans of telephone boxes there’s a lovely restored K8 in situ…

… as well as toilets…

… and a footbridge to take you over to Platform 2, but sadly there are no lifts so that platform, along with Platform 3 remain inaccessible for those unable to use stairs.

However, there is what looks like an old goods lift to a separate footbridge further north along the platforms.

Platform 3 is rarely, if ever used, and comprises a short stretch of track alongside some sidings at the southern end of Platform 2 – see the earlier Traksy diagram.

There’s also what looks like a south facing disused bay platform alongside Platform 1…

… and you can also see cars park right up to it, as they do at the northern end of Platform 1.

Shrub Hill arrived on the scene first, opening in October 1850 with Foregate Street ten years later in May 1860, but the upstart is by far the busier of the two on today’s railway seeing 1,748,000 passenger entries and exits in 2023/24 compared to Shrub Hill’s 527,000.

But there’s no doubt Shrub Hill wins hands down on character, although fails miserably on accessibility where Foregate Street triumphs with its lifts.

However, those who don’t like alighting or boarding trains with mega gaps between the platform and the train should avoid the eastern end of Platform 1 at Foregate Street where there’s one of the widest gaps I’ve ever seen.

Iain pointed out it could be even wider than the gap I highlighted at Gainsborough’s Lea Road which featured in last month’s blog on that station. Here it is again.

I reckon it’s a tie.

But also, at Foregate Street, make sure you’re in the front four coaches of a nine coach GWR train to be able to alight at all.

Thanks Iain, it’s been a pleasure to include these two stations and highlight their oddities and contrasts.

Roger French

Did you catch the 18 previous blogs in this series? 1: Hertford; 2: Canterbury. 3: Wigan, 4 Dorchester, 5 Windsor, 6 Wakefield, 7 Reddish, 8 Yeovil, 9 Newark-on-Trent, 10 New Mills, 11 Tyndrum, 12 St Albans, 13 Falkirk, 14 Catford, 15 Helensburgh, 16 Gainsborough, 17 Edenbridge, 18 Bicester.

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