The three platform station, serving two routes, is located to the south east of Worcester near to the M5 at junction seven and includes parking for 500 cars. It is hoped that the new facility will encourage more commuters to leave their vehicles at the station and travel into work by train.

“The station is set to transform rail travel to and from the county,” said Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet member for economy and infrastructure Ken Pollock. “I’d like to thank all those involved in making this station, which has been talked about for over 30 years, a reality.”

Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership’s chief executive Gary Woodman added: “The brand new direct services arriving at the station from Cardiff, Derby and Nottingham will reduce congestion on the roads for commuters who travel to stations such as Birmingham International and Warwick Parkway.”

Elsewhere, in Cumbria, the Workington MP Mark Jenkinson is campaigning for a railway station to be reintroduced at Silloth, a town of about 3000 people, beside the Solway Firth. The station closed in 1964 as a result of the Beeching cuts. The local MP met with Transport Minister Chris Heaton-Harris earlier this month.

“I would like Government to fund a feasibility study to look into the possibility of having a railway station at Silloth,” Mark said. “This would make it easier to travel to Silloth for tourists and my constituents as well as benefiting our local economy.”

(Photograph: Worcestershire County Council)