Wednesbury Great Western Street is a

tram stop A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, bu ...

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 ...

Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. According to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, t ...

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 was opened on 31 May 1999 and is situated on Midland Metro Line 1. The stop is next to the Midland Metro tram depot. The stop and depot are on the site of the old

Wednesbury Central railway station Wednesbury Central railway station was a station on the Great Western Railway's London Paddington to Birkenhead via Birmingham Snow Hill line. It was opened as Wednesbury in 1854 and was one of two stations serving Wednesbury in the West Midl ...

, which closed in 1972, though the section of railway on which the tram stop currently stands remained open to goods trains until 1992. The stop is overlooked by a statue of

Sleipnir In Norse mythology, Sleipnir (Old Norse: ; "slippy"Orchard (1997:151). or "the slipper"Kermode (1904:6).) is an eight-legged horse ridden by Odin. Sleipnir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional ...

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

's mythical eight-legged horse, by Steve Field, commissioned by Altram, the company that built the metro. Statue Sleipnir

Services

Mondays to Fridays, Midland Metro services in each direction between Birmingham and Wolverhampton run at six to eight-minute intervals during the day, and at fifteen-minute intervals during the evenings and on Sundays. They run at eight minute intervals on Saturdays.

South Staffordshire Line

The South Staffordshire Line which is currently closed, is crossed over by the Midland Metro. Wednesbury Great Western will also be the start of the Wednesbury - Brierley Hill Extension which will utilize the railway line to the former station sites at

Great Bridge North railway station Great Bridge North railway station was a station on the South Staffordshire Line that served the village of Great Bridge and town of Tipton in Staffordshire, England. History The station was built in 1850 and was initially served by the Sout ...

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 ...

before running through

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 ...

town centre and will reconnect to the line at Canal Street before finally leaving the line around Harts Hill railway station, towards

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 ...

and

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 ...

. This line may also be used by heavy rail 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 it will run the entire track to Round Oak. This could make it the second Midland Metro scheme to share a trackbed with heavy rail. With the other being the shared trackbed between

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...

and

Birmingham Snow Hill railway station Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station in Birmingham City Centre, England. It is one of the three main city-centre stations in Birmingham, along with and . Snow Hill was once the main station of the Great Western Railway in Birmingham and, ...

. There is also potential for a tram service between Wolverhampton and Wednesbury, via Walsall, which would use the line between

Walsall railway station Walsall railway station is the principal railway station of Walsall, West Midlands, England and situated in the heart of the town. It is operated by West Midlands Trains, with services provided by West Midlands Railway and from 2019, London No ...

and the former

Wednesbury Town railway station Wednesbury Town railway station was a station on the South Staffordshire Line. History The station was opened in 1850. The station was built and served by the South Staffordshire Railway, which later became London, Midland and Scottish Rail ...

, along with the majority of the

Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway The Midland Railway branches around Walsall were built to give the Midland Railway independent access to Wolverhampton, and to a colliery district at Brownhills. The Midland Railway had a stake in the South Staffordshire Railway giving it access ...

. Transport for West Midlands are currently undertaking a feasibility scheme into the possibility of a metro extension to

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 ...

, with stops at Brockmoor,

Brettell Lane railway station 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 ...

Amblecote Amblecote is an urban village and one of the most affluent areas in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge, extending about one and a half miles from it, an ...

, Stourbridge Junction and

Stourbridge Town Stourbridge Town is a railway station near the centre of Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It is situated at the end of a short branch line linking the station with Stourbridge Junction, 0.8 miles away, where passengers can change for mai ...

. A short walk away is the site of another former railway line which served the former Patent Shaft steel works and continued through Darlaston. The distinct GWR goods sheds are still standing.

References

External links

Article on this Metro stop from Rail Around Birmingham & the West Midlands

Article on this stop from Thetrams
Tram stops in Sandwell Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1999 {{UK-tram-stub