Chase Line
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The Chase Line is the railway line from Birmingham New Street to Walsall and Rugeley.
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[edit] Overview
The line from Birmingham to Walsall (sometimes referred to as the Walsall Line) has two alternative routes, both of which are electrified at 25 kV AC overhead. Of the two routes, one leaves New Street from the east, following the Cross-City Line as far as Aston, where it diverges to the west. The other route leaves New Street from the west, and travels via Soho. Beyond Walsall, the line is not electrified, and continues north to Hednesford and Rugeley. The section from Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley was previously freight-only, and reopened to passenger trains in stages between 1989 and 1998.
Since the early 1990s plans have existed to build a station at Bridgetown (between Landywood and Cannock), but it is now unlikely that this station will ever be built.
The line running via Aston, Perry Barr and Bescot is the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837.
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
- Rugeley
- Hednesford
- Cannock
- Great Wyrley (closed in 1964)
- Landywood
- Bloxwich
- Walsall
Walsall Line (Birmingham-Walsall)
- Walsall
- Bescot (for Bescot Stadium, the home of Walsall FC)
- Stone Cross (near Tame Bridge Parkway station)
- Hamstead
- Perry Barr
- Witton
- Aston
- Duddeston
- Birmingham
Passenger services on the line are operated by London Midland on behalf of Centro.
[edit] Services
Monday to Saturday daytimes there are 4 trains per hour (tph) from Birmingham New Street to Walsall. 2 tph call at all stations and are operated by either four-coach Class 321 or three-coach Class 323 Electric Multiple Units. On weekdays, some of these trains start or finish at Birmingham International. 2 tph are operated by two-coach or three-coach Class 150 or Class 170 Diesel Multiple Units. These trains call at Tame Bridge Parkway, Walsall (where 1 train terminates) and then all stations to Stafford. Monday through Saturday evenings there is an hourly stopping service form Birmingham New Street to Hednesford operated by either Class 150s or Class 170s. On Sundays there are 2 tph all day from Birmingham New Street to Walsall; 1 calling at all stations and 1 calling at Tame Bridge Parkway, Walsall and all stations to Rugeley Trent Valley.
[edit] Reopening
The line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley closed to passengers in 1965, although it remained as a freight–only line. It reopened in stages, as follows:
- 10 April 1989 — Walsall to Hednesford
- 2 June 1997 — Hednesford to Rugeley Town
- 25 May 1998 — Rugeley Town to Stafford
[edit] References
- A Century of Railways Around Birmingham and the West Midlands, Volume 3 1973-1999, John Boynton.
- Quail Railway Track Diagrams, Volume 4: Midlands & North West (ISBN 0-9549866-0-1)
[edit] External links
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