Harts Hill railway station

Harts Hill railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line. It was opened in 1895 by a GWR keen to invest in what was perceived to be the lucrative passenger area of the Black Country, and it was intended to serve the communities between Brierley Hill and Dudley. It closed, like many passenger stations, in 1916 due to the First World War, but was consequently never re-opened when the passengers failed to materialise. Two railways/routes served the station - originally the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway and the South Staffordshire Railway, which later became the Great Western Railway and London, Midland and Scottish Railway (through amalgamation of the London and North Western Railway) respectively.

There are no remaining signs of the station, as it closed some 90 years ago and the road from which it was accessed has long since been widened to create a dual carriageway.

The site of Harts Hill station is now the current terminus of the South Staffordshire Line, as the northbound line towards Walsall was closed in March 1993. It is due to re-open to goods trains in 2012, along with a Midland Metro extension which will divert from the line at this point and run through Merry Hill Shopping Centre before terminating in Brierley Hill town centre.

References

* [http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/Stations/harts_hill.php Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Harts Hill railway station]

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