- Chase Line
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Chase Line 
Map of the Chase Line. Not to scale.Overview Type Suburban rail, Heavy rail System National Rail Status Operational Locale Worcestershire
West Midlands
West Midlands (region)Operation Owner Network Rail Technical Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge The Chase Line is the railway line from Birmingham New Street to Walsall and Rugeley.
Contents
Overview
The line from Birmingham to Walsall (sometimes referred to as the Walsall Line) has two alternative routes, both of which are electrified at 25 kV AC overhead. Of the two routes, one leaves New Street from the east, following the Cross-City Line as far as Aston, where it diverges to the west. The other route leaves New Street from the west, and travels via Soho. Beyond Walsall, the line is not electrified, and continues north to Hednesford and Rugeley. The section from Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley was previously freight-only, and reopened to passenger trains in stages between 1989 and 1998.
Places served on the route are listed below. For information on the stations, please refer to the list in the route map.
Chase Line (Walsall-Rugeley)
- Rugeley
- Hednesford
- Cannock
- Great Wyrley (closed in 1964)
- Landywood
- Bloxwich
- Walsall
Walsall Line (Birmingham-Walsall)
- Walsall
- Bescot (for Bescot Stadium, the home of Walsall FC)
- Stone Cross (near Tame Bridge Parkway station)
- Hamstead
- Perry Barr
- Witton
- Aston
- Duddeston
- Birmingham
Passenger services on the line are operated by London Midland on behalf of Centro.
History
The line running via Aston, Perry Barr and Bescot is the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837.
The section between Walsall and Cannock was constructed by the South Staffordshire Railway Company.
The section between Cannock and Rugeley was constructed by the Cannock Mineral Railway Company.
Services
Monday to Saturday daytimes there are four trains per hour from Birmingham New Street to Walsall. Two per hour call at all stations and are operated by Class 323 Electric Multiple Units. The other two per hour are operated by Class 170 Diesel Multiple Units. These trains call at Tame Bridge Parkway, Walsall and then continue to Rugeley Trent Valley with one train calling at all stations and one train skipping certain stations between Walsall and Rugeley. Monday to Saturday evenings and all day Sunday, there are two trains per hour (one stopping and one semi-fast) between Walsall and Birmingham and an hourly service to Rugeley Trent Valley.
From December 2010, the Rugeley service will be cut from half-hourly to hourly on weekdays due to lack of funding, however they introduced an Walsall to Birmingham New Street fast only stopping at Tame Bridge Parkway these services used to start from Rugeley Trent Valley.
Class 150/1, no. 150121 at Kidderminster on 15th October 2004. This unit is typical of the DMUs that run on the Chase line. They were operated by Central Trains and is shown in the Centro livery, but the route was transferred to London Midland's schedule in late 2007.
Reopening
The line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley closed to passengers in 1965, although it remained as a freight–only line. It reopened in stages, as follows:
- 10 April 1989 — Walsall to Hednesford
- 2 June 1997 — Hednesford to Rugeley Town
- 25 May 1998 — Rugeley Town to Stafford
- 12 December 2008 — Chase Line trains are withdrawn from the Stafford - Rugeley Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line
References
- A Century of Railways Around Birmingham and the West Midlands, Volume 3 1973-1999, John Boynton.
- Quail Railway Track Diagrams, Volume 4: Midlands & North West (ISBN 0-9549866-0-1)
External links
Railway lines in the West Midlands Primary 
Secondary Local Birmingham to Peterborough Line · Birmingham to Stratford Line · Birmingham to Worcester via Bromsgrove Line · Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line · South Staffordshire Line · Chase Line · Cotswold Line · Coventry to Leamington Line · Coventry to Nuneaton Line · Crewe-Derby Line · Cross-City Line · Leamington to Stratford Line · Northampton Loop Line · Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line · Shrewsbury to Chester Line · Stafford to Manchester Line · Stourbridge Town Branch Line · Walsall to Wolverhampton Line · Welsh Marches Line · Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury LineCategories:- History of the West Midlands (county)
- Rail transport in Birmingham, West Midlands
- Rail transport in Staffordshire
- Rail transport in Walsall
- Railway lines in the West Midlands (region)
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