Old Hill railway station is in
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 ...
,
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 ...
, on the
Birmingham-Stourbridge line. It is managed by
West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
, who provide the majority of train services;
Chiltern Railways also operate a small number.
History
The station, which opened in 1866, was historically part of the
Great Western Railway, and was at the junction of the line from
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. ...
to
Stourbridge Junction with lines 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 ...
and via
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 ...
to
Longbridge. The two latter lines have long since been closed. The original station buildings have also been removed.
Because it was a junction station, the platforms were staggered, with the Birmingham-bound platform offset by a short distance.
A further junction in the Stourbridge direction allowed trains to traverse the
Bumble Hole Line, which ran to Dudley. That line closed in 1964.
To the east of the current station were private railway sidings serving Palmer Timber's Yard, which have long been removed.
The original timber station buildings were badly damaged by fire on 13 September 1967, and that prompted the modernisation of station, with the new building opening on 22 May 1968. The station footbridge was moved to different location from that of the original one, which was towards the Stourbridge end of the platform.
With rationalising of signalling, the signal box that served Old Hill was demolished in 1973.
Services
The typical Monday-Saturday daytime service is every 30 minutes, between Stourbridge Junction and
Stratford-upon-Avon via
Birmingham Snow Hill. During the daytime, services run alternately via and via ; in the evenings the frequency remains unchanged but one service runs between Dorridge and .
On Sundays, trains are hourly.
Chiltern Railways only operate one service per weekday from this station, the 21:10 Marylebone to Stourbridge Junction, which departs from Old Hill at 23:36 on Mondays to Fridays only.
References
Further reading
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*
External links
Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Old Hill station
{{coord, 52.471, N, 2.056, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title
Railway stations in Sandwell
DfT Category E stations
Former Great Western Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1866
Railway stations served by Chiltern Railways
Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains