Brierley Hill railway station
Encyclopedia
History
It was opened in 1858. British RailBritish Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
closed the station pre-Beeching in 1962. Two railways/routes served the station - originally the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway was a company authorised on 4 August 1845 to construct a railway line from the Oxford and Rugby Railway at Wolvercot Junction to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley, and Wolverhampton, with a branch to the Grand Junction Railway at Bushbury...
and the South Staffordshire Railway
South Staffordshire Railway
The South Staffordshire Railway was the railway company responsible for building several lines in and around the area of Staffordshire, England.The Chief Engineer was John Robinson McClean...
, which later became the Great Western Railway
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...
and London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
(through amalgamation of the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
) respectively.
Today's usage
The station's pedestrian entrance from Station Road is still in existence, though it has long been blocked off by a fence.Today, Goods trains still use the track where the station once stood, on their way to the nearby Round Oak Steel Terminal
Round Oak Steel Terminal
Round Oak Steel Terminal is a railway freight terminal dealing in steel from the Round Oak Steel Works until 1982 and from other sources thereafter, in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, England managed by Corus Group.-History:...
.
Metrolink
A £1,100,000/15 year long regeneration project will see the station become part of the local tram network with the line reopening between WalsallWalsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
, 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...
, 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:...
and the Merry Hill Shopping Centre
Merry Hill Shopping Centre
Westfield Merry Hill is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number...
for trams on one track and for freight on the other. The freighters would continue on pat Brettell Lane railway station
Brettell Lane railway station
-Brettell Lane railway station:Brettell Lane railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line built to serve the communities between Brierley Hill and Stourbridge in England.-History:...
and on to the mainline at Stourbridge junction. The closed section of railway through Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
is expected to re-open during the 2010s, as a combined 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...
tramway and a heavy rail line for goods trains.