Smethwick West was a railway station on the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

between Stourbridge Junction station and Smethwick Junction. It was opened as Smethwick Junction railway station in 1867. It closed in 1996, being replaced by a new railway station, Smethwick Galton Bridge, around 110 yards (100 metres) to the east, which serves two railway lines.

History

Smethwick Junction railway station was opened by the

in 1867. It was located on the Great Western Railway line running between Smethwick Junction and Stourbridge Junction station. The junction connected the Great Western route to the Stour Valley Line, which is now part of the West Coast route. In 1956 the British Transport Commission renamed the station to Smethwick West. With the run down of , passenger services were diverted to from 1967; and Smethwick West became a station on the route between Birmingham New Street, Stourbridge Junction and . Reduced levels of local services continued from Snow Hill to ; with four trains per day from Snow Hill to , via Smethwick West, using units, nicknamed "bubble cars". These services ended in March 1972; and the Great Western route to Birmingham Snow Hill also closed in 1972. A single freight-only line to Coopers Scrap Yard, on the Great Western line in Handsworth was kept in use. The route to Snow Hill was restored in 1995.

Closure

Smethwick West was replaced by

Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station Smethwick Galton Bridge is a split-level railway station in Smethwick, West Midlands, England. It is at a point where two railways' lines cross on two levels. It has platforms on both lines, allowing interchange between them. The two low-le ...

when the ''

Jewellery line The Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line is a railway line which runs from Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester via Stourbridge and Kidderminster in the West Midlands, England. It is one of the Snow Hill Lines, with trains operated by W ...

'' opened to Birmingham Snow Hill. Smethwick West was due to close in 1995 upon the opening of Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station, but an administrative error meant that it was unable to be closed until 1996. For this one-year period, Smethwick West was served by one train per week to satisfy the "not closed" criteria. The platforms and station buildings for Smethwick West are still in situ, and trains continue to pass through the site. The station lies adjacent to Smethwick Junction.

History

Closure

References

Further reading