Sutton Park railway station

This article is about the closed railway station in Sutton Coldfield. Not to be confused with Sutton Parkway railway station.

Sutton Park
The site of the station in 2011
General information
Location	Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham England
Coordinates	52.5683°N 1.8273°W / 52.5683; -1.8273
Grid reference	SP118967
Platforms	3
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Midland Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 July 1879 (1879-07-01)	Opened[1]
18 January 1965 (1965-01-18)	Closed[1]

Sutton Park railway station was a railway station in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, (in Birmingham since 1974), England, on the Midland Railway's Sutton Park Line.

History

Station sign in the collection at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum

Sutton Park railway station 2 October 1980

An image of a Sutton Park railway ticket

The station opened in 1879.

Overnight on 24-25 February 1942, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth stayed on the Royal Train which was parked behind the signal box. Later in 1942 a United States Army Post Office was established next to the station.^[2] In May 1948 in that disused sorting office adjacent to the station, 90 people began sorting 150 tons of parcels from America. It was the opening of the new Midland Customers depot, aimed at relieving congestion at the ports. Excise and postal officials examined the contents of parcels.^[3] In September 1962 the depot was the subject of a bungled robbery. Thieves stole 2,000 cigarettes worth £32 from the Post Office canteen but missed a much larger haul in a nearby locked room.^[4]

In 1959 the station was the site of the Guards and Shunters School, and from 1961 a Signalling School for men and women was opened.^[5]

The station closed to passengers in 1965.^[6] Goods facilities had closed earlier on 7 December 1964 but the goods shed was taken over for use beyond this date by the adjacent Post Office parcels depot.^[7] The line remains open for freight trains.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Sutton Coldfield Town Line and station closed		Midland Railway Sutton Park Line		Streetly Line and station closed

References

1. "Station Name: Sutton Park". Disused Stations. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
2. "Revealed: Secrets of Town's war effort". Sutton Coldfield News. England. 28 April 1995. Retrieved 10 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Midland Customs". Evening Despatch. England. 24 May 1948. Retrieved 10 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Thieves Missed Big Haul". Birmingham Daily Post. England. 28 September 1962. Retrieved 10 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Historic past of Sutton Park Station". Sutton Coldfield Observer. England. 23 June 1995. Retrieved 10 August 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Sutton Park Station". Rail Around Birmingham. 2004. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
7. Yate, Bob (2018). The Midland Railway Route from Wolverhampton: The Story of the Line from Wolverhampton to Walsall, Sutton Park and Water Orton (First ed.). Oakwood Press. p. 123. ISBN 9780853614494.