Shirley railway station (England)

Shirley railway station serves the Shirley area of Solihull in the West Midlands of England. Situated on the North Warwickshire Line, the station, and all trains serving it, are operated by West Midlands Trains.

History
The station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 1 June 1908, along with the line. It was considered an important station and was provided with substantial brick built buildings. The station was also provided with a goods yard and shed, which lasted until 1968.

Until October 2010, Shirley station was the terminus for many commuter services from Birmingham which did not run through to Stratford. These services were extended to terminate at the next station Whitlocks End, with the commissioning of a new turnback facility. This was done in order to alleviate traffic congestion at Shirley station, by encouraging commuters to drive to Whitlocks End, which had space for proper park and ride facilities. The 1907 built signalbox that stood on the Stratford-upon-Avon bound platform became redundant, and was demolished at the end of 2010, despite a local campaign to see its retention.

Services
As of December 2023 the service pattern at Shirley is as follows:


 * 2 trains per hour westbound to Kidderminster via Birmingham Moor Street, Snow Hill and Stourbridge Junction, with some evening trains continuing onward to Worcester.
 * 2 trains per hour southbound to Whitlocks End, one of which continues to Stratford-upon-Avon.

On Sundays, there is an hourly service westbound to Worcester Foregate Street via Birmingham Snow Hill and southbound to Stratford-upon-Avon.