SUNDAY sees the grand opening of the first new railway station in Worcestershire in more than 100 years.

Worcestershire Parkway is finally being opened after work finally started on the site in 2018.

The idea to build a Worcestershire Parkway station was presented more than 30 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2007 when Worcestershire County Council first set aside £3million to go towards the project.

At the time, planners said it would be many years before the station actually materialised.

Plans for the station were finally submitted in 2015 with promises that Worcestershire Parkway would be up-and-running by autumn 2017. This was then changed to mid-2018 and opening dates were continually pushed back.

Sunday’s opening will see the arrival of the first train into the new station, the Great Western Railway’s service to London Paddington at 8.28am.

Tom Pierpoint, GWR’s interim commercial development director, said: “We know this station has been a long-held ambition for the people of Worcestershire and we have been pleased to work alongside the county council and our rail industry partners to ensure the delivery of this impressive new facility.

“Customers travelling on one of our new Intercity Express Trains will enjoy a fastest journey time of one hour 49 minutes from Worcestershire Parkway to London Paddington, and 53 minutes to Hereford.”

The station, which has cost £22 million, features a 500-space car park along with lighting, CCTV, ticketing, customer facilities and information points as well as a fully-accessible station building with toilets and a ticket desk. There is also secure cycle storage, motorcycle parking and electric car charging points.