The Halesowen Railway, also known as the Halesowen and Northfield Railway and the Halesowen Joint Railway, was a standard gauge railway in what is now the West Midlands of

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 ...

. It connected the Great Western Railway's branch from

Old Hill Old Hill is a small village in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands, England, situated around north of Halesowen and south of Dudley. Initially a separate village it is now part of the much larger West Midlands conurba ...

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and fro ...

(opened 1878) with the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

’s

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

line at Longbridge Junction (formerly known as Halesowen Junction) near the present Longbridge station. The term "Halesowen Railway" is sometimes applied to the whole line between Old Hill and Longbridge but, strictly, it applies only to the portion south of Halesowen.

Opening

The Great Western Railway (GWR) opened their branch to from (on the line between and ) on 1 March 1878. The new branch was long from the junction at Old Hill, and on the same day, the GWR also opened the link between Old Hill and , the latter being on the line from Stourbridge Junction to . Construction of the line between Halesowen and started in 1878 and the railway opened as the Halesowen and Northfield Railway on 10 September 1883. It later became the Halesowen Joint Railway - a joint operation between the Great Western and Midland Railways. It became jointly owned by the GWR and the

London Midland & 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 ...

in 1923 and British Railways in 1948.

Closure

It had a relatively short passenger railway life, the stations on the line being closed in 1919. There were freight trains and workers' special services to the

Austin Rover The Austin Rover Group (abbreviated ARG) was a British motor manufacturer. It was created in 1982 as the mass-market car manufacturing subsidiary of British Leyland (BL). Previously, this entity had been known as BL Cars Ltd (formerly Leyland C ...

Works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * '' ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album)'', a Pink Floyd album from 1983 * ''Works'', a Gary Burton album ...

up to 1960. The line was closed altogether in 1964. The former station at Hunnington has been converted into a house and the other intermediate station at

Rubery Rubery is a village in the Bromsgrove District and a suburb of Birmingham in the counties of Worcestershire and West Midlands, England. It is from Birmingham city centre and a similar distance from Bromsgrove. Rubery was built on a sandstone q ...

has been demolished. A short section of the line remained at the southern end to serve the Longbridge motor plant although there was no traffic after 2005 and that section was lifted during the redevelopment of the Longbridge site subsequent to its closure. Campaign for Better Transport have added the railway to their recommendations for reopening.{{Cite web , url=http://bettertransport.org.uk//re-opening-rail-lines , title=Re-opening rail lines , website=Campaign for Better Transport

Structures

A significant structure on the line was the Dowery Dell Viaduct, between Halesowen and Rubery. It was dismantled in 1964. DD Viaduct.JPG, Dowery Dell Viaduct Dowery Dell Viaduct.jpg, Dowery Dell Viaduct showing one pier Dowery Dell with steam train.jpg, Dowery Dell Viaduct with steam train passing towards Longbridge

References

External links

Map of railways around Birmingham

British joint railway companies Closed railway lines in the West Midlands (region) Rail transport in the West Midlands (county)