West Coast Main Line Trains at Stafford on May 14th 2026

1st visit to Stafford on the West Coast Main Line as well as being the junction for Birmingham to Stafford Line via Wolverhampton Featuring services from Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway and CrossCountry plus some freight During filming Avanti West Coast services to North Wales had minor issues due to a earlier points failure that morning near Chester Stafford station is actually the 2nd busiest in the county of Staffordshire with the busiest being Stoke-on-Trent The first station of Stafford opened in 1837 North of today's station which was located on Newport Road having been opened by the former Grand Junction Railway however it was deemed inadequate at the time and would be replaced in 1844. The station of 1844 was designed by John Cunningham however it would be rebuilt again in 1862 further North of the older station sites designed by William Baker. At one time there was a hotel opposite to the station which was first named North Western Hotel later renamed The Station Hotel however it was closed and demolished in 1972. The station building of today in a Brutalist Style dates from 1962 designed by William Robert Headley In the past there were two other rail lines that use to operate through Stafford which were the former Stafford and Uttoxter Railway and the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company which the latter use to link to Shrewsbury. The Uttoxter and Stafford Line closed to passengers in 1939, Goods traffic in 1951 and was retained for use for RAF Stafford until closing in 1975. The link to Shrewsbury was closed in 1964 as part of the controversial Beeching Axe During the rebuild of 1961 and 1962 a narrow gauge Engine named Isabel designed originally by a local Firm WG Bagnall was stood on a Pinth on the opposite side of station road however was removed in the 1980s and relocated to the Amerton Railway which opened in 1992. Todays services of Stafford on the West Coast Main Line are served by Avanti West Coast with Hourly services to Manchester Piccadilly via Crewe, Edinburgh and Glasgow Central via Birmingham New Street which are provided by Class 390 Pendolinos whilst the other service that serves here is services to Chester and Holyhead which since Late 2023 been provided by Class 805 Everos. Other services including Liverpool Lime Street and the fast Glasgow Central that run non stop between London Euston and Warrington Bank Quay pass through via the Up and Down Fast Lines located between Platforms 1 and 3. Platform 2 was used in the days of loco hauled operations on WCML until the early 2000s however whilst redundant can be used for locos by Freight operators. London Northwestern Railway which was nationalised in February 2026 operate half hourly workings between Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street operated by Class 350s mainly via Platforms 4 and 5 whilst Platform 6 is used by terminating Hourly workings from Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent Hourly workings between London Euston and Crewe via Nuneaton operated by Class 350 Desiros and mostly recently Class 730/2 Aventras which the latter entered service in late 2025. CrossCountry services provided by Class 220 and 221 Voyagers to and from Manchester Piccadilly via Stoke-on-Trent to Bournemouth via Reading, Bristol Temple Meads and Paignton via Cheltenham Spa. Both Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry Trains will be among the last operators to be nationalised before end to 2027 according to DFT. Stafford may look a simple station on paper however even some can't always prepare for the unexpected on any given day Music used: JJD - Adventure Music provided by NCS Video link: NoCopyrightSounds    • JJD - Adventure | Glitch Hop | NCS - Copyr...   Filmed on Thursday May 14th 2026 on iPhone 17 Pro and edited on iMovie #avantiwestcoast #londonnorthwesternrailway #crosscountrytrains #freightliner #directrailservices #gbrailfreight #class66 #class88 #class90 #class220 #class221 #class350 #class390 #class730 #class805 #class807 #siemens #alstom #hitachi #stafford #staffordshire #westcoastmainline #wcml #trainspottinguk #trainspotting #traintravel