Brettell Lane railway station was a station on the

Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot JunctionThe nearby settlement is spelt ''Wolvercote'' and a later station on the LNWR Bicester line follows that spelling. ...

which served the town of

Brierley Hill Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, 2.5 miles south of Dudley and 2 miles north of Stourbridge. Part of the Black Country and in a heavily industrialised area, it has a popu ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

It was opened in 1852 by the

Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot JunctionThe nearby settlement is spelt ''Wolvercote'' and a later station on the LNWR Bicester line follows that spelling. ...

. Local coal mining and steel mills led to rapid industrialisation of the area and heavy usage of the station in the early 20th century, but numbers had declined badly by the 1960s. In 1858, a coupling broke on an excursion train at the station and the rear portion rolled back down the gradient from

Round Oak railway station Round Oak railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line serving the town of Brierley Hill in England. History It was opened in 1852 to serve the town of Brierley Hill. Two railways/routes served the station - origina ...

towards Brettell Lane where it collided with another train (which was actually part of the same excursion, the train already having been safely divided once due to its extreme length) 14 passengers were killed and 50 more injured. 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. 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 The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

's industrial past. As the local industry declined and road transport became more common, the station entered a post-World War 2 decline.

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

closed the station pre-Beeching in 1962. Two railways/routes served the station - originally the OW&WR and the

South Staffordshire Railway The South Staffordshire Railway (SSR) was authorised in 1847 to build a line from Dudley in the West Midlands of England through Walsall and Lichfield to a junction with the Midland Railway on the way to Burton upon Trent, with authorised share c ...

, which later became the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

and

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

(through amalgamation of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

) respectively.

Today's usage

Today, only

freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...

s pass through the former site of the station, for access to the now declining Moor Lane Goods Yard a few hundred yards away on its own spur line. The station has been largely built over with a factory and several warehouses on one side and fenced off on the other. Its usage has declined further since the early 1990s, with the closure of the line between Round Oak and Walsall in 1993 and the branch to Pensnett a year later. A

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

situated in the vicinity of the station was burnt down by

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

ists in 2003, and was replaced by a

ground frame Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the signals, track locks and points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control. Usually located in the signal box, the ...

Imagery of the station

File:Brettel lane station1 (2).jpg, A picture of Brettell lane station in 2003. The line is still open to

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transp ...

Kingswinford Junction

Kingswinford Junction is a

railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge), provided by ''points'' ( ...

on the old

(OWW), which allows trains to diverge on to the Wombourne Branch Line. It is located north of Brettell Lane railway station, just before the line passes through Moor Lane Goods Yard.

History

Both the OWW line and the Wombourne Branch Line were constructed, or overseen, by the

. The OWW line was a significant route between Stourbridge Junction and

Wolverhampton Low Level Wolverhampton Low Level was a railway station on Sun Street, in Springfield, Wolverhampton, England. It was built by the Great Western Railway (GWR), on their route from London Paddington to Birkenhead, via Birmingham Snow Hill. It was the ...

while the Wombourne Branch was originally an important freight-only route bypassing the congested railway routes through the

West Midlands conurbation The West Midlands conurbation is the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the towns of Sutton Coldfield, Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge and Halesowen in the English West Midlands ...

. Modifications to

Kingswinford Junction Brettell Lane railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line which served the town of Brierley Hill in England. History It was opened in 1852 by the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. Local coal mining an ...

, north of the station allowed passenger trains to traverse the Wombourne Branch Line for a short period between 1925 and 1932. The latter was host to passenger services for just seven years between 1925 and 1932, and the OWW closed pre- Beeching in 1962. The junction's use decreased sharply with the closure of the Wombourne Branch in 1965, although the line remained open as a link to the

Pensnett Trading Estate Pensnett is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, south-west of central Dudley. Pensnett has been a part of Dudley since 1966, when the Brierley Hill Urban District, of which it was a part, was absorbed into t ...

until 1994.

Today's usage

The junction remains since it also allows access to Moor Lane Goods Yard. Trains rarely use this yard and it would appear the junction's use is minimal, if used at all, except for the odd

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

maintenance train.

The former Moor Lane signal box

The

that operated the junction was still used on a small scale until the late 1990s, when Moor Lane's usage heavily declined. It was burnt down by

ists in 2003. A manually operated

replaced the former relic of the West Midlands railways. This ground frame must be cleared for use by Stourbridge Junction's Middle Box.

Moor Lane Goods Yard

It was a once important goods yard that lay a few hundred yards from Brettell Lane railway station and across the tracks at Kingswinford Junction. Local coal mining and steel mills lead to rapid industrialisation of the area and heavy usage of the station in the early 20th century, but numbers had declined badly by the 1960s. The former carriage sidings and truck sidings are now out of use and current freight turnover is low and relates to a few nearby factories and warehouses.

History

It opened in 1852, to serve the local town and later took on transport significance with the nearby coal mines at the Delph/Amblecote pits, Amblecote Bank, not far from the

Stourbridge Canal The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal (at Stourton Junction, affording access to traffic from the River Severn) with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingha ...

near Brettell Lane railway station.

Today's usage

It is now owned by the

DB Cargo UK DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS)), is a British rail freight company headquartered in Doncaster, England. The company was established in early 1995 as ''North & South Railways'', successful ...

freight company and is occasionally used by themselves and Network Rail.

Imagery of the goods yard

File:Moor lane goods yard1.jpg , Moor Lane Goods Yard, by Brettell Lane railway station, near

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

in 2004. The truck sidings are now out of use and derelict. File:Moor lane goods yard2.jpg , Moor Lane Goods Yard, by Brettell Lane railway station, near

in 2004. The truck sidings are now out of use and derelict. File:Moor lane goods yard3.jpg , Moor Lane Goods Yard, by Brettell Lane railway station, near

in 2004. The carriage sidings (left after the metal fencing) are now out of use and partly removed (part lifted).

Future

Phase 2 of the West Midlands Metro would have seen the station become part of the local tram network with the line reopening between

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and

, via

Dudley Port railway station Dudley Port railway station serves the Dudley Port and Great Bridge areas of Tipton, West Midlands, England, Situated on the Stour Valley Line, the station is operated by West Midlands Railway. Upper Level station History The station opened ...

Dudley railway station Dudley Railway Station was a railway station in Dudley, West Midlands, England, built where the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line and the South Staffordshire Line diverged to Wolverhampton and Walsall and Lichfield respectively. History Th ...

and the

Merry Hill Shopping Centre Merry Hill (formerly Westfield Merry Hill and The Merry Hill Shopping Centre) is a large shopping complex in Brierley Hill near Dudley, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several subsequent expansion and renovation projects ...

for trams which will share the line with freight trains. In March 2011, the business plan for the reopening of the line between Stourbridge and Walsall was submitted to Network Rail. In 2019, PMOL (the operators of the Stourbridge Shuttle) announced plans for the creation of the Dudley and Stourbridge Light Railway, using similar Parry People Mover Trains to operate a service from the Waterfront to Stourbridge Junction via Brierley Hill and Stourbridge Town. This would see the northern end of the line creating a tram interchange with services to Dudley, Wolverhampton and Birmingham, whilst the southern end of the line will create a direct link to National Rail services. A feasibility study is currently being undertaken.

References

External links

Some South Staffordshire Railway Byways – The Darlaston Branch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brettell Lane Railway Station Rail transport in Dudley Disused railway stations in Dudley Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1852 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962 Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson 1852 establishments in England

History

Today's usage

Imagery of the station

Kingswinford Junction

History

Today's usage

The former Moor Lane signal box

Moor Lane Goods Yard

History

Today's usage

Imagery of the goods yard

Future

See also

References

Further reading

External links