Dudley railway station

For The Station currently serving Dudley, see Sandwell and Dudley railway station.

Dudley
An auto-train in 1961
Location
Place	Dudley
Area	Dudley
Grid reference	SO950907
Operations
Original company	Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
History
20 December 1852	Opened
6 July 1964	Closed[1]
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

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

The station was built as a collaboration between the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (which was soon to fall into the hands of the Great Western Railway, and the London and North Western Railway (which had taken control of the South Staffordshire Railway - the company that had constructed the line from Lichfield, via Walsall, to Dudley). The latter eventually became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. The station was completed in 1860^[2].

A racecourse had been situated just north of the station until the mid 1840s when it was closed to make way for the railway, but its name was revived during the 1980s when Racecourse Colliery, a model colliery, was opened on the site as part of the Black Country Living Museum^[3].

The line had reasonable passenger usage until about the early 1880’s, when it began to slump at several stations, leading to the line becoming a largely freight only operation in 1887. It would remain open for goods traffic, which was considerable at this time, as the district had become highly industrialised in the then heyday of the Black Country's industrial past.

As the local industry declined and road transport became more common, the station entered a post-World War 2 decline, although not as heavily as most others on the line.

Closure

The station was popular with local people who appreciated its convenient locations and frequent trains, with high numbers of passengers still using the services as recently as the 1950s. The OW&WR line from Stourbridge Junction to Wolverhampton Low Level closed to passengers in 1962, but Dudley remained as a terminus for trains from Walsall on the South Staffordshire Line, Old Hill on the Bumble Hole Line and Birmingham Snow Hill until the Beeching Axe had its effect in 1964 despte of the station's high passenger turnover at the time.

The South Staffordshire Line's uses were complicated, since some trains terminated at Dudley from Lichfield and Walsall, and some continued through to Stourbridge Junction. Similarly, the same applied with the journey in reverse.

Use since closure

The buildings of Dudley Station remained open for parcels until early 1967, when they were knocked down and replaced by Dudley Freightliner Terminal. It was one of the first of its kind in Britain.

The Freightliner Terminal closed in 1989, and the line passing through Dudley closed to all traffic in 1993. Most of the track remains in place, although a few lengths of track around the site of Dudley Station have been removed and the site of the Freightliner Terminal is now little more than an overgrown field.

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 Walsall, Dudley Port railway station, Dudley railway station and the Merry Hill Shopping Centre for trams on one track and for freight on the other. The freighters would continue on past Brettell Lane railway station and on to the mainline at Stourbridge junction^[4].

The Midland Metro is expected to open on the adjoining track in 2012 or 2013, with trams leaving the traditional line near the former terminal site and passing through Dudley town centre before rejoining the line at the north mouth of the Dudley Railway Tunnel. One track on the line is also expected to re-open to goods trains, and part of the terminal site will be occupied by an expansion to Dudley Zoo. The closed section of railway through Dudley is expected to re-open during the 2010s^[5], as a combined Midland Metro tramway and a heavy rail line for goods trains.

References

1. ^ Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 83. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
2. ^ http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_p_145/
3. ^ http://www.bclm.co.uk/map7.htm
4. ^ http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-transport-news/2010/11/25/plans-for-1-1-bn-west-midlands-metro-system-unveiled-65233-27711546/
5. ^ http://www.centro.org.uk/Metro/Nov%2003/W-B%20Timetable.asp

Historic imagry of the site

• 

  The closed old railway lines that once ran between Dudley port and Dudley's station come freight liner depot in 2001.

• 

  View southward, towards Dudley Tunnel and Stourbridge Junction in 1951.

• 

  A picture of the former Dudley Freightliner Terminal signal box's remnants in 2002, more than 10 years after it was closed and destroyed by arsonists.

• 

  Dudley Town's former station platform in 2011 with an old channel carved in it. The channel is for a former gantry crane at the Freightliner depot that Later covered the station platforms and goods yard.

• 

  Dudley Town's former station platform in 2011. There is a channel (out of shot) in it for a former gantry crane at the Freightliner depot that later covered the station platforms and goods yard.

• 

  Dudley Town's former station platform in 2011 with some buffers and the same old channel carved in it.

External links

• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Dudley railway station
• -://chasewaterstuff.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/some-south-staffordshire-railway-byways/
• [1]

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Terminus		Great Western Railway Later British Rail Bumble Hole (1878-1964)		Blowers Green
Dudley Port		Great Western Railway Later British Rail Birmingham Snow Hill-Wolverhampton Line - Dudley Branch (1852-1964)		Terminus
Tipton Five Ways		Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway Later Great Western Railway, then British Rail Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton (1852-1962)		Blowers Green
Dudley Port or Terminus		South Staffordshire Railway Later LNWR, then LMS, finally BR South Staffs Line (inc. Dudley-Stourbridge Junction to 1962) (1852-1964)		Blowers Green or Terminus

Coordinates: 52°30′52″N 2°04′30″W / 52.51441°N 2.07499°W / 52.51441; -2.07499