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Walsall railway station

November 03, 2023

52°35′02″N 1°59′06″W / 52.5840°N 1.9851°W / 52.5840; -1.9851

Walsall
Walsall station in 2019.
General information
LocationWalsall, Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
England
Grid referenceSP010984
Managed byWest Midlands Railway
Transit authorityTransport for West Midlands
Platforms3
Other information
Station codeWSL
Fare zone4
ClassificationDfT category D
History
Original companySouth Staffordshire Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
9 April 1849 (1849-04-09)Opened
Passengers
2017/18 1.451 million
2018/19 1.565 million
2019/20 1.517 million
2020/21 0.285 million
 Interchange 1,414
2021/22 0.804 million
 Interchange 7,492
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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. The main entrance is situated inside the Saddlers Shopping Centre.

Overview edit

Services from the station go to Birmingham New Street 10+3⁄4 miles (17.3 km) south on the Walsall Line, (operated on behalf of Transport for West Midlands), and north to Cannock and Rugeley.

The station has three platforms:

  • Platform 1: operating northbound services to Rugeley;
  • Platform 2: operating southbound, semi-fast services from Rugeley to Birmingham New Street;
  • Platform 3: (a terminus platform) operating local services to Wolverhampton via Birmingham New Street.

Platforms 2 and 3 have been recently[when?] refurbished, with a new waiting room added and poems on the walls of the stairs to the platforms. The mainline platforms are electrified to 25 kV AC Overhead power.

A self-service ticket machine was placed on Platform 1 but was no longer in place in April 2011; however, a similar machine remains in the station booking hall which is at street level above platform 3.[citation needed] The station has a staffed ticket office.

Services edit

Walsall was formerly served by services to Wellington and Stafford but these were withdrawn in 2008 due to low passenger numbers and resulting in Walsall losing its connection to Shropshire. Walsall retains close connections to Rugeley Trent Valley for the West Coast Main Line. Three services a day to Stafford on the peak services to Liverpool Lime Street were discontinued after the May 2019 timetable change. Connections can be made at Birmingham New Street for services to Liverpool Lime Street.

There were also two morning services a day to Telford and Shrewsbury via Birmingham and Wolverhampton. This service was also introduced in the timetable change in May 2019. They were operated as extensions of the Shrewsbury to Birmingham Line. They replaced the former Liverpool Lime Street service. However in December 2019, following problems with services and disruptions, the Walsall service was once again withdrawn. This was replaced by a through Rugeley Trent Valley to Wolverhampton service.

Monday to Saturday daytimes four trains per hour run southbound from Walsall to Birmingham New Street. One runs half-hourly fast to New Street only calling at Tame Bridge Parkway before stopping at local stations on its way to Birmingham International. A stopping service runs half-hourly continuing past Birmingham to form the Birmingham to Wolverhampton stopping service. The fast trains call only at Tame Bridge Parkway (with occasional calls at Bescot Stadium) and are routed via the direct line through Soho and Winson Green, whilst the stopping trains run via Aston.

From Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley the service is half-hourly.

There was also a service to London which called at all stations on the Chase Line and then from Walsall to Birmingham before it continued to Coventry, Rugby, Hampton-in-Arden, Northampton, Milton Keynes and London Euston. This has been withdrawn and instead starts from New Street.

There were plans to introduce direct services to London Euston operated by Avanti West Coast in 2021, however in the December 2022 timetable changes it was decided this would not go ahead.[1][2][3]

Commuters from Walsall to London will continue having to interchange using West Midlands Railway services at Rugeley Trent Valley, Wolverhampton or Birmingham New Street for services to London.

History edit

The Grand Junction Railway provided the town with its first rail service, albeit indirectly from 1837. Their Birmingham to Warrington line passed to the south and was provided with a station at Bescot Bridge (near the present Bescot Stadium), from where travellers could catch a connecting stagecoach. The Grand Junction company laid a branch line from Bescot to a temporary depot in the town at Bridgeman Place a decade later, but it was not until 9 April 1849 that a permanent station was opened on the present site.[4] This was completed by the South Staffordshire Railway as part of their route from Wichnor Junction (south of Burton-upon-Trent) to Dudley, which opened the same day. Further route development followed - the SSR added a branch northwards to Cannock in 1858 (which was extended to Rugeley the following autumn), whilst the Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway line linked the town to Wolverhampton via North Walsall in 1872. The network was completed by the Midland Railway, whose line from Castle Bromwich via Aldridge opened in 1879.[5] The Midland had by this time also purchased the W&WR from the rival London and North Western Railway, though the LNWR still ran occasional services over it until the 1923 Grouping.[6] The station was rebuilt in 1883, due to increasing traffic levels, with five platforms and separate booking offices for each of the two companies using it.[4] A fire damaged the main booking hall in 1916, but it was not until after the World War I had ended in 1918 that a full rebuild of the concourse could be effected. The new booking hall was completed & opened in 1923.

Under LMS auspices, the Midland line to Wolverhampton via Wednesfield and Willenhall Stafford Street closed to passengers in 1931[6] (it being less direct than the older Grand Junction line via Darlaston).

The line from Birmingham was electrified in 1966 as part of the London Midland Region's electrification programme.[7] The actual energization of the line from Coventry to Walsall through Aston took place on 15 August 1966.[8]

In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, vast improvements were made to the quality of services from Walsall. In April 1989 passenger services were reintroduced by British Rail on the previously freight only line to Hednesford 24 years after they were withdrawn.[4] The number of trains to Birmingham was gradually increased from one to four trains per hour and the Hednesford service was extended to Rugeley in 1997 (and subsequently through to Stafford) but the service to Stafford was cut back in 2008 to Rugeley Trent Valley under an agreement with London Midland and WCML operators. Only the now withdrawn daily Liverpool Lime Street services connected Walsall directly with Stafford.

Passenger services to Wolverhampton were reintroduced in 1998 which also ran on occasions to Wellington, but this service was short lived and the regular hourly service was withdrawn again in 2008 due to low passenger numbers. However, one train per day ran straight to Wolverhampton from Walsall, in the evening (leaving Walsall at 19.36) until the May 2013 timetable change as a parliamentary train to avoid the need for formal closure proceedings. This now runs in the opposite direction on Saturdays only (06.38 ex-Wolverhampton).[9] The West Midlands Combined Authority still has ambitions to reinstate a regular (half-hourly) weekday service on the route and reopen the station at Willenhall and Darlaston, but funding problems have precluded any action being taken on the proposals.

Incidents edit

On 23 December 1854 a double headed south-bound goods train from the north was held outside the station, with a second goods train drawn up behind it. A third goods train collided with the rear of the second, at speed, forcing it into the first. The fireman of the second of the engines of the third train, on his first turn in the role, was killed after jumping from his engine.[10] The driver of the leading engine was charged with manslaughter.[11] The case against him was dropped.[12]

Beeching Axe and closures edit

Walsall was one of the towns most affected by the Beeching Axe, which resulted in passenger services being withdrawn on the line to Dudley in July 1964 and on the Wolverhampton - Walsall - Lichfield City - Burton-upon-Trent[13] and Walsall - Sutton Park - Birmingham routes in January 1965.[14]

The service to Rugeley Trent Valley was also closed to passengers on the same date, leaving towns like Bloxwich, Cannock, Hednesford and Rugeley without a railway connection. The remaining service to Birmingham was also reduced to hourly in the 1970s and almost withdrawn until it was saved and later improved.

The section to Lichfield remained open to freight traffic until 1984, when the line from Ryecroft Junction to Newtown, Brownhills closed to all traffic and the line was lifted and the stations (except Hammerwich) were demolished. The section from Newtown, Brownhills continued to serve Charringtons Oil Terminal until the closure of the terminal in 2001. The line was then mothballed and put out of use.

The section to Stourbridge remained open to serve as a diversion for freight and served the now-demolished Dudley Freightliner Terminal until 1993, when the route between Bescot/Walsall and the Round Oak steel terminal was taken out of use and mothballed.

Future proposals edit

Proposals would see the reintroduction of services to Wolverhampton via Willenhall with new stations at Darlaston (James Bridge) and Willenhall operated by West Midland Railway giving commuters a faster service to Wolverhampton as opposed to the current service via Birmingham New Street.[15] This is due to open in 2024.[16]

There are also plans to reopen a terminus single platform at Aldridge for trains to Birmingham New Street via Walsall but not to Sutton Coldfield and Water Orton.

In a strategy which has been conducted by the West Midlands Combined Authority, the line from Walsall to Lichfield has been identified as a disused rail corridor and this means that it is a long term ambition to reopen the line from Walsall to Lichfield, either a rail/light rail corridor. There are also aspirations to reconnect the disused line at Wednesbury to Walsall as either rail or tram.[17]

Gallery edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Here's how West Coast rail services will change as a new operator replaces Virgin Trains". Birmingham Live. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  2. ^ "West Coast Partnership franchise improvements map". Department for Transport. 14 August 2019.
  3. ^ "West Coast Mainline December 2022 Timetable changes by route" (PDF). December 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "History of Walsall's train station" Walsall Council; Retrieved 6 April 2016
  5. ^ "Disused Stations - Sutton Park" Disused Stations; Retrieved 6 April 2016
  6. ^ a b "Disused Stations - North Walsall Retrieved 6 April 2016
  7. ^ Nock, O.S. (1966). Britain's New Railway. London: Ian Allan. pp. 147–159.
  8. ^ Gillham, J.C. (1988). The Age of the Electric Train - Electric trains in Britain since 1883. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 169.
  9. ^ GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 70 (Network Rail)
  10. ^ Capt. H. W. Tyler (18 January 1855). Accident Returns: Extract for the Accident at Walsall on 23rd December 1854 (PDF). Board of Trade. pp. 3–8.
  11. ^ J.D. Payne, South Staffordshire Railway, General Manager's office, in reply to Tyler's report
  12. ^ Capt. H. W. Tyler, to Board of Trade
  13. ^ Railways of Willenhall Willenhall History Society; Retrieved 29 July 2021
  14. ^ Disused Stations - Sutton Park Disused Stations; Retrieved 29 July 2021
  15. ^ "Willenhall and Darlaston stations". West Midlands Rail Executive.
  16. ^ Parkes, Thomas (8 April 2023). "Ground conditions still a 'significant risk' to new £55m rail stations - bosses". Express and Star.
  17. ^ "Movement for Growth: 2026 Delivery Plan for Transport, Annex 1 - Corridors" (PDF). pp. 26, 28, 34. Retrieved 16 July 2019.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walsall railway station.
  • Train times and station information for Walsall railway station from National Rail
  • History of Walsall's train station

November 03, 2023
walsall, railway, station, 5840, 9851, 5840, 9851, walsallwalsall, station, 2019, general, informationlocationwalsall, metropolitan, borough, walsallenglandgrid, referencesp010984managed, bywest, midlands, railwaytransit, authoritytransport, west, midlandsplat. 52 35 02 N 1 59 06 W 52 5840 N 1 9851 W 52 5840 1 9851 WalsallWalsall station in 2019 General informationLocationWalsall Metropolitan Borough of WalsallEnglandGrid referenceSP010984Managed byWest Midlands RailwayTransit authorityTransport for West MidlandsPlatforms3Other informationStation codeWSLFare zone4ClassificationDfT category DHistoryOriginal companySouth Staffordshire RailwayPre groupingLondon and North Western RailwayPost groupingLondon Midland and Scottish RailwayKey dates9 April 1849 1849 04 09 OpenedPassengers2017 181 451 million2018 191 565 million2019 201 517 million2020 210 285 million Interchange 1 4142021 220 804 million Interchange 7 492LocationNotesPassenger statistics from the Office of Rail and RoadWalsall 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 The main entrance is situated inside the Saddlers Shopping Centre Contents 1 Overview 2 Services 3 History 3 1 Incidents 4 Beeching Axe and closures 5 Future proposals 6 Gallery 7 References 8 External linksOverview editServices from the station go to Birmingham New Street 10 3 4 miles 17 3 km south on the Walsall Line operated on behalf of Transport for West Midlands and north to Cannock and Rugeley The station has three platforms Platform 1 operating northbound services to Rugeley Platform 2 operating southbound semi fast services from Rugeley to Birmingham New Street Platform 3 a terminus platform operating local services to Wolverhampton via Birmingham New Street Platforms 2 and 3 have been recently when refurbished with a new waiting room added and poems on the walls of the stairs to the platforms The mainline platforms are electrified to 25 kV AC Overhead power A self service ticket machine was placed on Platform 1 but was no longer in place in April 2011 however a similar machine remains in the station booking hall which is at street level above platform 3 citation needed The station has a staffed ticket office Services editWalsall was formerly served by services to Wellington and Stafford but these were withdrawn in 2008 due to low passenger numbers and resulting in Walsall losing its connection to Shropshire Walsall retains close connections to Rugeley Trent Valley for the West Coast Main Line Three services a day to Stafford on the peak services to Liverpool Lime Street were discontinued after the May 2019 timetable change Connections can be made at Birmingham New Street for services to Liverpool Lime Street There were also two morning services a day to Telford and Shrewsbury via Birmingham and Wolverhampton This service was also introduced in the timetable change in May 2019 They were operated as extensions of the Shrewsbury to Birmingham Line They replaced the former Liverpool Lime Street service However in December 2019 following problems with services and disruptions the Walsall service was once again withdrawn This was replaced by a through Rugeley Trent Valley to Wolverhampton service Monday to Saturday daytimes four trains per hour run southbound from Walsall to Birmingham New Street One runs half hourly fast to New Street only calling at Tame Bridge Parkway before stopping at local stations on its way to Birmingham International A stopping service runs half hourly continuing past Birmingham to form the Birmingham to Wolverhampton stopping service The fast trains call only at Tame Bridge Parkway with occasional calls at Bescot Stadium and are routed via the direct line through Soho and Winson Green whilst the stopping trains run via Aston From Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley the service is half hourly There was also a service to London which called at all stations on the Chase Line and then from Walsall to Birmingham before it continued to Coventry Rugby Hampton in Arden Northampton Milton Keynes and London Euston This has been withdrawn and instead starts from New Street There were plans to introduce direct services to London Euston operated by Avanti West Coast in 2021 however in the December 2022 timetable changes it was decided this would not go ahead 1 2 3 Commuters from Walsall to London will continue having to interchange using West Midlands Railway services at Rugeley Trent Valley Wolverhampton or Birmingham New Street for services to London History editThe Grand Junction Railway provided the town with its first rail service albeit indirectly from 1837 Their Birmingham to Warrington line passed to the south and was provided with a station at Bescot Bridge near the present Bescot Stadium from where travellers could catch a connecting stagecoach The Grand Junction company laid a branch line from Bescot to a temporary depot in the town at Bridgeman Place a decade later but it was not until 9 April 1849 that a permanent station was opened on the present site 4 This was completed by the South Staffordshire Railway as part of their route from Wichnor Junction south of Burton upon Trent to Dudley which opened the same day Further route development followed the SSR added a branch northwards to Cannock in 1858 which was extended to Rugeley the following autumn whilst the Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway line linked the town to Wolverhampton via North Walsall in 1872 The network was completed by the Midland Railway whose line from Castle Bromwich via Aldridge opened in 1879 5 The Midland had by this time also purchased the W amp WR from the rival London and North Western Railway though the LNWR still ran occasional services over it until the 1923 Grouping 6 The station was rebuilt in 1883 due to increasing traffic levels with five platforms and separate booking offices for each of the two companies using it 4 A fire damaged the main booking hall in 1916 but it was not until after the World War I had ended in 1918 that a full rebuild of the concourse could be effected The new booking hall was completed amp opened in 1923 Under LMS auspices the Midland line to Wolverhampton via Wednesfield and Willenhall Stafford Street closed to passengers in 1931 6 it being less direct than the older Grand Junction line via Darlaston The line from Birmingham was electrified in 1966 as part of the London Midland Region s electrification programme 7 The actual energization of the line from Coventry to Walsall through Aston took place on 15 August 1966 8 In the late 1980s and into the 1990s vast improvements were made to the quality of services from Walsall In April 1989 passenger services were reintroduced by British Rail on the previously freight only line to Hednesford 24 years after they were withdrawn 4 The number of trains to Birmingham was gradually increased from one to four trains per hour and the Hednesford service was extended to Rugeley in 1997 and subsequently through to Stafford but the service to Stafford was cut back in 2008 to Rugeley Trent Valley under an agreement with London Midland and WCML operators Only the now withdrawn daily Liverpool Lime Street services connected Walsall directly with Stafford Passenger services to Wolverhampton were reintroduced in 1998 which also ran on occasions to Wellington but this service was short lived and the regular hourly service was withdrawn again in 2008 due to low passenger numbers However one train per day ran straight to Wolverhampton from Walsall in the evening leaving Walsall at 19 36 until the May 2013 timetable change as a parliamentary train to avoid the need for formal closure proceedings This now runs in the opposite direction on Saturdays only 06 38 ex Wolverhampton 9 The West Midlands Combined Authority still has ambitions to reinstate a regular half hourly weekday service on the route and reopen the station at Willenhall and Darlaston but funding problems have precluded any action being taken on the proposals Incidents edit On 23 December 1854 a double headed south bound goods train from the north was held outside the station with a second goods train drawn up behind it A third goods train collided with the rear of the second at speed forcing it into the first The fireman of the second of the engines of the third train on his first turn in the role was killed after jumping from his engine 10 The driver of the leading engine was charged with manslaughter 11 The case against him was dropped 12 Beeching Axe and closures editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed August 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Walsall was one of the towns most affected by the Beeching Axe which resulted in passenger services being withdrawn on the line to Dudley in July 1964 and on the Wolverhampton Walsall Lichfield City Burton upon Trent 13 and Walsall Sutton Park Birmingham routes in January 1965 14 The service to Rugeley Trent Valley was also closed to passengers on the same date leaving towns like Bloxwich Cannock Hednesford and Rugeley without a railway connection The remaining service to Birmingham was also reduced to hourly in the 1970s and almost withdrawn until it was saved and later improved The section to Lichfield remained open to freight traffic until 1984 when the line from Ryecroft Junction to Newtown Brownhills closed to all traffic and the line was lifted and the stations except Hammerwich were demolished The section from Newtown Brownhills continued to serve Charringtons Oil Terminal until the closure of the terminal in 2001 The line was then mothballed and put out of use The section to Stourbridge remained open to serve as a diversion for freight and served the now demolished Dudley Freightliner Terminal until 1993 when the route between Bescot Walsall and the Round Oak steel terminal was taken out of use and mothballed Future proposals editProposals would see the reintroduction of services to Wolverhampton via Willenhall with new stations at Darlaston James Bridge and Willenhall operated by West Midland Railway giving commuters a faster service to Wolverhampton as opposed to the current service via Birmingham New Street 15 This is due to open in 2024 16 There are also plans to reopen a terminus single platform at Aldridge for trains to Birmingham New Street via Walsall but not to Sutton Coldfield and Water Orton In a strategy which has been conducted by the West Midlands Combined Authority the line from Walsall to Lichfield has been identified as a disused rail corridor and this means that it is a long term ambition to reopen the line from Walsall to Lichfield either a rail light rail corridor There are also aspirations to reconnect the disused line at Wednesbury to Walsall as either rail or tram 17 Gallery edit nbsp A view from platform 1 looking north towards the tunnel under the Saddlers Centre nbsp A class 304 electric multiple unit at Walsall in 1979 nbsp A West Midlands Trains British Rail Class 730 being tested at Walsall on the 19 March 2021References edit Here s how West Coast rail services will change as a new operator replaces Virgin Trains Birmingham Live 14 August 2019 Retrieved 15 August 2019 West Coast Partnership franchise improvements map Department for Transport 14 August 2019 West Coast Mainline December 2022 Timetable changes by route PDF December 2022 a b c History of Walsall s train station Walsall Council Retrieved 6 April 2016 Disused Stations Sutton Park Disused Stations Retrieved 6 April 2016 a b Disused Stations North Walsall Retrieved 6 April 2016 Nock O S 1966 Britain s New Railway London Ian Allan pp 147 159 Gillham J C 1988 The Age of the Electric Train Electric trains in Britain since 1883 Shepperton Ian Allan p 169 GB eNRT December 2015 Edition Table 70 Network Rail Capt H W Tyler 18 January 1855 Accident Returns Extract for the Accident at Walsall on 23rd December 1854 PDF Board of Trade pp 3 8 J D Payne South Staffordshire Railway General Manager s office in reply to Tyler s report Capt H W Tyler to Board of Trade Railways of Willenhall Willenhall History Society Retrieved 29 July 2021 Disused Stations Sutton Park Disused Stations Retrieved 29 July 2021 Willenhall and Darlaston stations West Midlands Rail Executive Parkes Thomas 8 April 2023 Ground conditions still a significant risk to new 55m rail stations bosses Express and Star Movement for Growth 2026 Delivery Plan for Transport Annex 1 Corridors PDF pp 26 28 34 Retrieved 16 July 2019 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walsall railway station Train times and station information for Walsall railway station from National Rail History of Walsall s train stationPreceding station nbsp National Rail Following stationBloxwich West Midlands Railway Rugeley Walsall BirminghamChase Line Tame Bridge Parkway West Midlands RailwayRugeley Walsall Birmingham Wolverhampton Limited service TerminusWest Midlands RailwayWalsall Aston Birmingham WolverhamptonBescot StadiumTerminusWest Midlands RailwayWalsall WolverhamptonWalsall to Wolverhampton lineDarlastonTame Bridge ParkwayDisused railwaysRushallLine and station closedLondon and North Western RailwaySouth Staffordshire LineWednesbury TownLine and station closedTerminusAldridgeLine and station closedMidland RailwaySutton Park LineTerminusNorth WalsallLine and station closedMidland RailwayWolverhampton and Walsall RailwayTerminus Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Walsall railway station amp oldid 1171535343, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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