Round Oak Steel Terminal is a railway freight terminal dealing in

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

from the

Round Oak Steel Works The Round Oak Steelworks was a steel production plant in Brierley Hill, West Midlands (formerly Staffordshire), England. It was founded in 1857 by Lord Ward, who later became, in 1860, The 1st Earl of Dudley, as an outlet for pig iron made in t ...

until 1982 and from other sources thereafter, in

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 ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

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 ...

managed by

Tata Steel Europe Tata Steel Europe Ltd. (formerly Corus Group plc) was a steelmaking company headquartered in London, England, with its main operations in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The company was created in 2007, when Tata Group took over the ...

History

The terminal was opened on 21 August 1986 and is situated on the former

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. ...

north of Stourbridge Junction. The line north of Stourbridge and south of

Blowers Green railway station Blowers Green railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line in Dudley, West Midlands, England. History It was opened in 1878 by the Great Western Railway intending to serve the growing communities of Woodside and Net ...

was closed pre-Beeching in 1962 except for freight traffic, and trains run to Round Oak Steel Terminal and the nearby Moor Lane Goods Yard. The terminal consists of sidings adjacent to factories. Just after the terminal, the railway line ceases to be in use at the Highgate Road overbridge, Harts Hill. The line beyond here was closed in 1993 and most of the track between there and the Blowers Green overbridge (approximately one mile away) has been removed, though the line is set to re-open during the 2020s as a shared line between freight trains and

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 ...

trams (the latter running as far as

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 ...

Today's usage

Trains arrive at the terminal from

Llanwern steelworks Llanwern steelworks is located in Llanwern, east of the City of Newport, South Wales. History Built for Richard Thomas & Baldwins Ltd, the works was originally referred to locally as "The RTB", before being called Spencer Works and later Lla ...

and

Margam Margam is a suburb and community of Port Talbot in the Welsh county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, close to junction 39 of the M4 motorway. The community had a population of 3,017 in 2011; the built up area being larger and extending into T ...

. They are generally hauled by Class 60s, although the general replacement of this locomotive with Class 66 locomotives has meant the latter now appears just as often. There are seven services operating from the Terminal on all weekdays except Friday, where just four operate. There are no booked trains on a Saturday, but three trains operate on a Sunday. Additionally, a trial scrap train ran from the Terminal to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Tidal on 14 and 15 February 2007. This now runs when required, on Fridays from Moor Street Goods Yard.

West Midlands Metro

A regeneration project will see the former Round Oak 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 ...

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 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 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 on one track and for freight on the other. The freight trains would continue on past Brettel Lane station and on to the main line at Stourbridge Junction. The closed section of railway through

is expected to re-open, as a combined

tramway and a heavy rail line for goods trains.

Train Services today

Today, the following services operate Monday - Thursday: Train 1;
6M11 2335 Margam Steel - Round Oak
6V05 1001 Round Oak - Margam Steel Train 2;
6M81 0443 Margam Steel - Round Oak
6V07 1454 Round Oak - Margam Steel Train 3;
6M41 1151 Margam Steel - Round Oak
6V61 2145 Round Oak - Margam Steel

Imagery of the site

File:Round oak steel terminal 4.jpg, Round Oak steel terminal in 2005 File:Round oak steel terminal5.jpg, Round Oak steel terminal in 2005 File:Round oak steel terminal 2.jpg, Round Oak steel terminal in 2005

References

External links

Harts Hill Station
Showing the "end of the line"
Round Oak Station
Showing the terminal {{Tata Group, state=collapsed Rail transport in Dudley Railway freight terminals in the United Kingdom Brierley Hill Tata Steel Europe