Dudley Railway Station was a railway station in
Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
, West Midlands,
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 ...
, built where 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. ...
and the
South Staffordshire Line diverged to
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
and
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
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
respectively.
History
The station was built as a collaboration between 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. ...
(which was soon to fall into the hands of 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 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 ...
(which had taken control of the South Staffordshire Railway – the company that had constructed the line from
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
, via
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 ...
, to
Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
). The latter eventually became part of the
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 ...
. The station was completed in 1860.
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
The Black Country Living Museum (formerly the Black Country Museum) is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in Dudley, West Midlands, England.[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 ...](_blank)
'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 location 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
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 ...
closed to passengers in 1962,although a small number of Sunday trains non-stop between Wolverhampton and Worcester continued to use the line until March 1967, while Dudley remained as a terminus for trains from
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 ...
on the
South Staffordshire Line,
Old Hill
Old Hill is a small village in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, situated around north of Halesowen and south of Dudley. Initially a separate village it is now part of the much larger ...
on the
Bumble Hole Line and
Birmingham Snow Hill until the
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
had its effect in 1964 despite the station's high passenger turnover at the time.
Closure and future development
The buildings of Dudley Station remained open for parcels until early 1967, when they were knocked down and replaced by
Dudley Freightliner Terminal
Dudley Freightliner Terminal was opened on the site of Dudley railway station in November 1967, as one of Freightliner's first rail terminals. It was an instant financial success and by 1981 was one of the most profitable Freightliner terminals ...
. 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. Over the next 23 years, the railway and former station and freightliner terminal sites became increasingly overgrown with vegetation, although this was cleared in early 2017 to make way for the planned re-opening of the line to the Midland Metro and goods trains.
Since 1986, there have been plans to redevelop the station to become part of the local
West Midlands Metro
The West Midlands Metro (originally named Midland Metro) is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. Opened on 30 May 1999, it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmin ...
tram network, with the line reopening between
Wednesbury
Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...
,
Dudley Port
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
, Dudley, 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 ...
, with trams on one track and freight on the other. After 30 years of delays and difficulties in securing funding, the scheme got the go-ahead from the government in the autumn of 2016, with clearance of vegetation and the remaining track getting underway early in 2017 and full scale work would begin around two years later, with the line being open by 2023.
Historic imagery of the site
File:Dudley town railway lines.JPG, The closed old railway lines that once ran between Dudley port and Dudley's station come freight liner depot in 2001.
File:Dudley railway station 2173533.jpg, View southward, towards Dudley Tunnel and Stourbridge Junction in 1951.
File:Dudley Signal-box (3).jpg, A picture of the former Dudley Freightliner Terminal
Dudley Freightliner Terminal was opened on the site of Dudley railway station in November 1967, as one of Freightliner's first rail terminals. It was an instant financial success and by 1981 was one of the most profitable Freightliner terminals ...
signal box's remnants in 2002, more than 10 years after it was closed and destroyed by arsonists.
File:Dudley Town station platform channel 2011.jpg, 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.
File:Dudley Town station platform 2011.jpg, 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.
File:Dudley Town station platform buffers 2010.jpg, Dudley Town's former station platform in 2011 with some buffers and the same old channel carved in it.
File:Dudley station site and freight terminal following the clearance of vegetation for the metro extension, a new light rail test centre and for freight traffic .jpg, Dudley station site and freight terminal following the clearance of vegetation for the metro extension, a new light rail test centre and for freight traffic
References
Further reading
*
External links
Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Dudley railway station*
{{West Midlands railway stations, disused
Disused railway stations in Dudley
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1850
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964
Beeching closures in England
Former Great Western Railway stations