Aldridge railway station is a disused station on 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 ...

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 in 1879 and closed in 1965, although the track through the station is still in use for freight.

History

Opened by the

in 1879, Aldridge railway station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the

Grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

of 1923. The line then passed on to the

London Midland Region of British Railways The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

on nationalisation in 1948. The station was closed by the

British Railways Board British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

in 1965 as part of the

Beeching cuts 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 M ...

and subsequently demolished. In 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies included the station in a list of proposed station re-openings. In February 2021 it was announced that land had been purchased in

Aldridge Aldridge is an industrial town in the Walsall borough, West Midlands, England. It is historically a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from Lichfield. ...

near the site of its former railway station as part of plans led by

Mayor of the West Midlands The Mayor of the West Midlands is a directly elected political post who chairs the West Midlands Combined Authority, covering the Birmingham metropolitan area and Coventry. The first election took place on Thursday 4 May 2017. Andy Street, ...

Andy Street Andrew John Street (born 11 June 1963) is a British businessman and Conservative Party politician who was the managing director of John Lewis from 2007 to 2016, when he resigned to run for Mayor of the West Midlands. Street won the May 2017 ma ...

and Aldridge-Brownhills MP

Wendy Morton Wendy Morton (born 9 November 1967) is a British politician who served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member ...

to reopen at least part of the Sutton Park line. In June 2022 it was announced that

Transport for West Midlands Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus franch ...

had received £150,000 from the government's Restoring Your Railway program which will fund a business case into reopening the station and electrifying the line. At this time, it was stated that the single platform station could open in 2027.

The Site Today

Freight trains still pass the site on the Sutton Park Line.

References

External links

Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Aldridge railway station
* * *

{{Proposed rail infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom Disused railway stations in Walsall Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1879 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Beeching closures in England Former Midland Railway stations