Broom Junction railway station

Broom Junction
Station in October 1960
Location
Place	Broom
Area	Stratford-on-Avon
Grid reference	SP085534
Operations
Original company	Evesham & Redditch Railway / East and West Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway / Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
Platforms	2
History
2 June 1879	Opened as an exchange platform
1 November 1880	Became a public station
23 May 1949	End of SMJR passenger services
13 June 1960	End of SMJR goods services
5 July 1962	Closure of signal boxes
1 October 1962	Closure of station
17 June 1963	Withdrawal of replacement bus services
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Broom Junction was a railway station and interchange between the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway and the Barnt Green to Ashchurch line. Although initially only an exchange station, it was opened to the public from 1880 and remained in service until 1963. Other than passengers changing trains, passenger traffic was low as the station was situated in a sparsely populated area near Broom in Warwickshire. The line to Stratford was the first to close in 1960, followed by the Barnt Green line in 1962.

In 1873, the East and West Junction Railway (E&WJ) received Parliamentary authorisation to construct a 7.75 miles (12.47 km) eastwards extension of its Stratford to Blisworth line to join with the Evesham & Redditch Railway's (E&R) Barnt Green to Ashchurch line which had opened six years previously. The new line joined at the Warwickshire village of Broom where it formed a northward facing junction with the E&R's line. In completing the line to Broom, the length of the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJR) was increased to 45 miles (72 km), rising to 55.5 miles (89.3 km) in 1882 with the completion of a further extension south to Olney railway station. The completed line also provided a connection between two lines worked by the Midland Railway which absorbed the E&R in 1882.

The new line opened to traffic on 2 June 1879 and an island platform was provided at Broom to allow passengers to change trains en route. Trains from the E&WJ worked into a single north-facing platform by an awkward west to north movement, across the main lines. The return journey required a reversal south to the engine turntable situated at the end of a siding on the other side of the road bridge. The Midland allowed the E&WJ to use the station subject to the sharing of costs, and the E&WJ were given running rights over the Midland's line although it only ever exercised use of the 5 chains (330 ft; 100 m) into the station.