Chase Line

The Chase Line is a suburban railway line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs from its southern terminus, Birmingham New Street, to Walsall, and then Rugeley in Staffordshire, where it joins the Trent Valley Line. The name of the line refers to Cannock Chase which it runs through at its northern end.

Part of the line, between Birmingham and Walsall, has been electrified since the 1960s; work to electrify the remaining 15 mile stretch of line between Walsall and Rugeley, was completed in December 2018.

History

*The line from Birmingham via Aston, Perry Barr and Bescot was opened in 1837 as part of one of the earliest railway main lines; the Grand Junction Railway (GJR). This line did not serve Walsall directly, but continued from Bescot to Wolverhampton (this is now part of the Walsall to Wolverhampton Line). A station on the GJR called ''Walsall'' was opened on the outskirts of the town, this was later renamed , and is now closed. The GJR became part of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) in 1846.
*The section through Walsall, including the present Walsall station was opened in 1849 by the South Staffordshire Railway, as part of their (now closed) South Staffordshire Line from to Wychnor Junction, north of Lichfield, a connection was opened from Walsall to the GJR at Bescot, allowing direct Walsall-Birmingham trains.
*The section between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley was constructed by the South Staffordshire Railway, and the Cannock Mineral Railway (CMR): The South Staffordshire Railway built the line from Walsall to Cannock, opening in 1858, and the CMR built the line from Cannock to Rugeley, opening in 1859. The South Staffordshire Railway was absorbed by the LNWR in 1867, as was the CMR two years later.
*The last part of what is now the Walsall/Chase Line, the ''Soho Loop Line''; a link running from ''Perry Barr Junction'' on the original GJR to ''Soho Junction'' on the Stour Valley Line, allowing an alternative route into Birmingham from the west which bypassed Aston, was opened by the LNWR in 1889. Two stations were opened on this line; and , both were closed in 1941.

Walsall – Rugeley: closure and reopening

Passenger services on the line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley were withdrawn in 1965, and the intermediate stations closed as part of the Beeching Axe, the line however remained open to freight, although until the 1980s it was not unknown for diverted Inter-City passenger services from Birmingham to Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, etc. to use the line in the event of the Wolverhampton-Stafford route being shut for Sunday or late evening engineering work.

Passenger services were restored to the line and most of the stations reopened between 1989 and 1998, as part of a joint initiative between the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) and Staffordshire County Council. The name ''Chase Line'' was invented as a marketing name for the restored line, and came into use at this time. The restoration took place in stages, as follows:

*10 April 1989 — Walsall to Hednesford
*2 June 1997 — Hednesford to Rugeley Town
*25 May 1998 — Rugeley Town to Rugeley Trent Valley and Stafford
*12 December 2008 — Chase Line trains are cut back from Stafford to Rugeley Trent Valley.
*22 May 2018 — Chase Line trains increased to a 30-minute frequency Monday to Saturday, with a 60-minute frequency on Sunday
*19 May 2019 — Electric passenger services begin north of Walsall. In addition to this, services are extended to Birmingham International (2tph).

Route

The line from Birmingham to Walsall (sometimes referred to as the Walsall Line) has two alternative routes, both electrified at 25 kV AC overhead. One leaves New Street to the east, following the Cross-City Line as far as Aston, where it diverges to the west. The other leaves to the west, and travels via Soho. Beyond Walsall, the line was electrified in 2019, and continues north to Hednesford and Rugeley. This section was freight-only for some years, reopening to passenger trains in stages between 1989 and 1998.

Places served on the route are listed below. For information on the stations, please refer to the list in the route map.

Chase Line (Walsall – Rugeley)
*Stafford – Stafford railway station – Interchange services to Stoke-On-Trent, London, Crewe and many others (1998 – Late 2008)
*Rugeley – Rugeley Town & Rugeley Trent Valley – Interchange services to London Euston and Crewe railway station

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