Stourbridge Junction for Stourbridge Town |
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Stourbridge Junction, looking north | |
Location | |
Place | Stourbridge |
Local authority | Dudley |
Operations | |
Station code | SBJ |
Managed by | London Midland |
Number of platforms | 3 |
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries |
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Annual rail passenger usage | |
2004/05 * | 0.371 million |
2005/06 * | 0.394 million |
2006/07 * | 0.444 million |
2007/08 * | 0.499 million |
2008/09 * | 1.138 million |
Passenger Transport Executive | |
PTE | West Midlands |
Zone | 5 |
History | |
Opened 1852 | |
National Rail - UK railway stations | |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Stourbridge Junction for Stourbridge Town from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. |
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Stourbridge Junction railway station is a railway station on the Birmingham, Worcester and Kidderminster Line in West Midlands, England. Stourbridge Town Branch Line runs from the station to Stourbridge town centre. Until 1974, the station was in Worcestershire.
The nearest railway stations are Hagley, Stourbridge Town and Lye.
Contents |
The station was opened in 1852 on the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway line, at a slightly different location to the present station, under the name of Stourbridge. The junction came about when the Stourbridge Railway built their line to Lye and beyond.
Stourbridge become a double junction on October 1, 1879 when the branch to Stourbridge Town and goods was opened.
On 1 October 1901 the new station opened 400 yards to the south of the original.
In 1962, the OW&WR was closed to passenger traffic north of Stourbridge by the British Transport Commission, although the route remained open for freight. Today only the section as far as the Round Oak Steel Terminal is still in use.
The station was previously a four platform station, comprising two island platforms. The southern divergence to Platform 1, which is now solely served by the Stourbridge Town branch, was taken up some years ago and the end of the line is surrounded by fencing. Inside this fencing is a shed which houses the experimental Parry People Mover that is currently used on the branch line. Platform 4 was also closed some years ago, with the adjacent carriage sidings being removed to make way for a car park. Track has also been rationalised in the yard to the north in recent years.
There is a vast array of sidings to the north of the station and they are often used to rest various maintenance vehicles and trains, and they are home to a Chiltern Railways LMD (light maintenance depot) where at night, and on Sundays, many Class 168 trains can be seen stabled.
The Signalbox controls from just north of Hagley, to near Jewellery Quarter. It works Track Circuit Block to Blakedown Signal Box and the West Midlands Signalling Centre (Snow Hill Workstation).
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
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Brettell Lane | Great Western Railway "The Wombourne Branch" (1925-1932) |
Terminus | ||
Brettell Lane | Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway Later Great Western Railway, then British Rail Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton (1852-1962) |
Hagley | ||
Brettell Lane | South Staffordshire Railway Later LNWR, then LMS, finally BR South Staffs Line Dudley-Stourbridge Junction Section (1852-1962) |
Terminus |
From Stourbridge Junction, the main trains in service are Centro/London Midland Class 172 DMU units. They usually run to Birmingham Snow Hill via Smethwick Galton Bridge, and to Kidderminster, Worcester Shrub Hill or Great Malvern. Trains to Birmingham usually continue to Whitlocks End, Stratford-upon-Avon, or Dorridge. London Midland maintains a small train crew depot at Stourbridge Junction, no traction units were stabled at the station except when the class 153 DMU that previously operated on the town branch was stabled over night.
Chiltern Railways also provide a peak time service to London Marylebone, commencing at Kidderminster and running via Birmingham Snow Hill. Chiltern's train depot is located just to the north of the station past the signal box, Chiltern also maintains a small Train Crew Depot at Stourbridge Junction.
Despite local opposition, trains from Stourbridge to Birmingham New Street no longer run. Trains operating from the Junction to Stourbridge Town are currently being run by Class 139 units. The town branch is operated by a one train working staff, which is also required to operated the Ground Frame (just below the signal box) to allow train to enter or exit the branch. The new 139 unit that operates the service no longer needs to leave the line like the previous 153 DMU unit, that was cleaned and re-fueled at Tyeseley in Birmingham, as the 139 has its own compound at the end of the branch at the Kidderminster end of the station.
Charter trains can often be seen either stopped or routed through the station on weekends, since Stourbridge Junction is on the route to Kidderminster, where a lot of tours operate from or to. Two CrossCountry services - one early morning and one late evening - are timetabled to route through, but not call at, Stourbridge Junction. These start and terminate from New Street. The station also sees frequent expresses pass through when the Lickey Incline is closed.
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
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Lye | Chiltern Railways London-Kidderminster |
Hagley | ||
Lye | London Midland Birmingham-Worcester via Kidderminster |
Hagley | ||
Terminus | London Midland Stourbridge Town Branch Line |
Stourbridge Town |
In the recent economic downturn freight through Stourbridge Junction has lessened significantly. There is now just 3 steel train per day each way to and from Round Oak. Other 'as required' services include the scrap steel service and a new stone service from Croft to Brierley Hill which operate on Fridays, and a nuclear flask train which operates from Bridgwater to Crewe.
Chiltern Railways have a Light Maintenance Depot at Stourbridge Junction which stores 3-4 Class 168 Clubmans during each night to commence the 3-4 Kidderminster - London daily services.
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