Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line

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Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line
from north to south

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for West Coast Main Line
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Wolverhampton Wheelchair.png Centro other car parking large.png
for Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury line and Walsall to Wolverhampton Line
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Tipton Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
Dudley Port Centro free car parking large.png
Sandwell and Dudley Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
Smethwick Galton Bridge Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
for Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line
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Birmingham New Street Wheelchair.png Centro other car parking large.png
for all destinations
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Lea Hall Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
Marston Green Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
Birmingham International Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
Hampton-in-Arden Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
Berkswell Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
Tile Hill Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
Canley Wheelchair.png Centro free car parking large.png
Coventry Wheelchair.png Centro other car parking large.png
for Coventry to Nuneaton Line and services to Banbury via Leamington Spa
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for West Coast Main Line and Northampton Loop

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Centro other car parking large.png - Other car parking

The Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line is a loop off the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Rugby and Stafford via the West Midlands cities of Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

The cities, towns and villages served by the line are listed below.

History

Map of the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line, and other local routes.

The line from Rugby to Birmingham Curzon Street opened as part of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1837. The following year, the Grand Junction Railway opened from Curzon Street to Wolverhampton, Stafford and north to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. However, this ran via Aston to Wolverhampton (see map). These two lines merged in 1846 to form the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). in 1852, the line from Birmingham to Wolverhampton via Smethwick opened by the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway, which was later absorbed by the LNWR. The LNWR itself became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, and part of British Railways at Nationalisation in 1948.

The line was electrified along with the rest of the WCML during the late 1950s in the wake of the 1955 BR modernisation plan.

Services

Main-line services are operated by Virgin Trains and Central Trains, and stop at the principal stations only. Local services are operated by Central Trains, generally to the following daytime patterns:

  • Birmingham to Birmingham International, then all stations to Coventry: two trains per hour, with one going on to Rugby and Northampton.
  • Walsall to Birmingham, and all stations to Birmingham International: two trains per hour (alternate trains do not stop at Adderley Park).
  • All stations between Birmingham and Wolverhampton: two trains per hour.
  • Additionally, one train per hour between Birmingham, Stafford and Liverpool Lime Street calls at Coseley, Wolverhampton and Penkridge.

Trains from London to the north of England and Scotland are frequently diverted via this route at weekends, due to engineering work on the Trent Valley Line - the direct route from Rugby to Stafford.

References

  • Jowetts Railways Centres Volume 1, Alan Jowett (PSL, 1993)
  • A Century of Railways Around Birmingham and the West Midlands, Volumes 1, 2 & 3, John Boynton (Mid England Books, 1997-1999)
  • Rail Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland, S K Baker (OPC, 2004)


Railway lines in Central England:
Main lines:  Cross-Country Route   Midland Main Line   West Coast Main Line
 Birmingham-Peterborough via Leicester Line   Birmingham-Worcester via Bromsgrove Line  
 Birmingham-Worcester via Kidderminster Line   Cherwell Valley Line   Chiltern Main Line  
 London-Aylesbury Line   Trent Valley Line   Welsh Marches Line   Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury Line
Commuter lines:  Birmingham-Rugeley "Chase" Line   Birmingham-Stratford Line   Birmingham-Walsall Line  
 Coventry-Nuneaton Line   Cross-City Line   Leicester-Loughborough "Ivanhoe" Line  
 Northampton Loop Line   Robin Hood Line   Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line  
 Stourbridge Junction-Stourbridge Town Line   Walsall-Wolverhampton Line 
Rural lines:  Cotswold Line   Crewe-Derby Line   Derwent Valley Line   Leamington-Stratford Line  
 Marston Vale Line   Nottingham-Lincoln Line   Nottingham to Grantham Line  
 Oxford-Bicester Line   Princes Risborough-Aylesbury Line   Shrewsbury-Chester Line