The Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level Line was part of the Great Western Railway's

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

 London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside

Birkenhead Woodside railway station

Birkenhead Woodside was a railway station at Woodside, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England.-Background:Birkenhead Woodside railway station was opened on 31 March 1878 to replace the increasingly inadequate passenger facilities provided at Birkenhead Monks Ferry station.It was built...

 route. As the name suggests, it ran between Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton Low Level

Wolverhampton Low Level railway station

Wolverhampton Low Level was a railway station on Sun Street, in Springfield, Wolverhampton, England .It was built by the Great Western Railway, on their route from London to Birkenhead via Birmingham...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The line was dual-gauged.

The line opened in 1854, two months later than planned, following a bridge collapse near Winson Green

Winson Green

Winson Green is a loosely-defined inner-city area in the west of the city of Birmingham, England. It is part of the ward of Soho.It is the location of HM Prison Birmingham and City Hospital .The area has a very multi-racial population, with large Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities.R&B singer...

, which caused chief engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel to order strengthening on several other bridges.

Dudley Branch

This particular stretch of line had many intermediate stations and included a branch to Dudley railway station

Dudley railway station

Dudley Railway Station was a passenger railway station located at Dudley, England, built where the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line and the South Staffordshire Line diverged to Wolverhampton and Walsall and Lichfield respectively.-History:...

. Travelling towards Wolverhampton, the branch diverged north of Swan Village railway station

Swan Village railway station

Swan Village railway station was an intermediate station on the Great Western Railway's Birmingham Snow Hill-Wolverhampton Low Level Line. It was opened in 1854. It was the last station before the Dudley Branch of the line diverged from the main line. The Dudley branch closed in 1964 as part of the...

, and joined the South Staffordshire Line

South Staffordshire Line

The South Staffordshire Line was a railway line that connected Lichfield in Staffordshire, England with Dudley, formerly in Worcestershire. However, it joined the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway's line just north of Dudley Station, where it, in essence, continued to Stourbridge, in...

 east of Dudley Port railway station

Dudley Port railway station

-History:There was a Low Level Station on the former South Staffordshire line that had opened in 1850. The line had reasonable passenger usage until about the early 1880s, when it began to slump at several stations, leading to the line becoming a largely freight only operation in 1887...

. Trains called at Great Bridge South railway station

Great Bridge South railway station

Great Bridge South railway station was the only station on a link line between the South Staffordshire Line and the Birmingham Snow Hill-Wolverhampton Low Level Line. It was opened in 1866...

, Dudley Port railway station

Dudley Port railway station

-History:There was a Low Level Station on the former South Staffordshire line that had opened in 1850. The line had reasonable passenger usage until about the early 1880s, when it began to slump at several stations, leading to the line becoming a largely freight only operation in 1887...

 and Dudley railway station

Dudley railway station

Dudley Railway Station was a passenger railway station located at Dudley, England, built where the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line and the South Staffordshire Line diverged to Wolverhampton and Walsall and Lichfield respectively.-History:...

 on the branch.

Closure

The line closed in 1972 upon the closure of Snow Hill. All other stations along the route closed with it, but Wolverhampton Low Level remained open until 1981 as a parcels depot. In 1995, the 'Jewellery Line' saw the relaying of tracks as far as a short distance past The Hawthorns before the line branched off, crossing the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line

Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line

The Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line is a railway line in central England. It is a loop off the West Coast Main Line between Rugby and Stafford via the West Midlands cities of Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton.-Places served:The cities, towns and villages served by the line are listed...

 at the also-new Smethwick Galton Bridge

Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station

Smethwick Galton Bridge is a railway station in Smethwick, West Midlands, England.The station is situated where two lines cross at different levels: the line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Stourbridge Junction crosses over the Stour Valley Line by means of a bridge. There are four platforms, two on...

 and joining the main Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line

Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line

The Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line is a commuter railway line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester via Stourbridge and Kidderminster. It is part of the Snow Hill Lines, with trains operated by London Midland and Chiltern Railways using by and diesel units...

, which previously routed into Birmingham New Street.

The rest of the original GWR line was redeveloped in 1999 as part of the Midland Metro

Midland Metro

The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...

tram scheme. Although the lines leave the original trackbed before Wolverhampton Low Level, most other places that were served before the closure of Snow Hill are once again served by the Metro. The Metro runs parallel to the Jewellery Line from an area north of The Hawthorns.