Stourbridge Town railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Stourbridge Town


manager = London Midland
locale = Stourbridge
borough = Dudley
pte = West Midlands
zone = 5
code = SBT
latitude = 52.455
longitude = -2.142
usage0405 = 0.200
usage0506 = 0.233
usage0607 = 0.258
platforms = 1
start = 1879
Closed 1915
Reopened 1919

Stourbridge Town is a railway station near the centre of Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It is situated at the end of a short branch line linking the station with Stourbridge Junction just 0.8 miles (1.3 km) away, where passengers can change for mainline train services.

History

Opened to passenger traffic on Wednesday 1 October 1879, Stourbridge Town was built because it was considered that the existing station at Stourbridge Junction was situated too far from Stourbridge town centre. The original station, situated upon the site now occupied by Stourbridge bus station, was a surprisingly grand affair, with one 298 ft (91 m) platform and substantial brick buildings covered by a full-length awning. The station was closed as a wartime economy measure between 1 April 1915 and 28 February 1919, with passenger services being replaced by Midland Red buses. During the General Strike in 1926, the bus service between Junction and Town stations was re-introduced from 7 May to 10 July to cover for the withdrawn train services.

The station and branch were listed for closure under the Beeching axe, but won a stay of execution in 1965, although the station became unstaffed from July 1967. The 1879 station survived mostly intact until February 1979 when it was demolished. Some of the material from the old station was saved and used for buildings at Tyseley Locomotive Works.

In 1979, the branch was cut back by 70 yards (64 m) towards Junction station, leaving room for a bus station. The new station was a low-cost portable building.

Despite threats and rumours of closure in the 1980s and 1990s, the station building was replaced in early 1994, with a new station opening to passengers on 25 April 1994. The current station is a small modern facility directly linked to the bus station allowing easy interchange with bus services. It has a single 170 ft (52 m) platform which is just long enough to hold the single car Class 153 railcar which shuttles passengers between the station and Stourbridge Junction. Due to the nature of the gradient, there is a short section of rails behind the initial buffer stop to prevent accidents such as those which occurred in 1989 and 1990. This runs parallel to the station pathway, and is surrounded by a wall and railings for safety reasons.

External links

* [http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/Stations/stourbridge_town.php Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Stourbridge Town railway station]

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