Chase Line

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Chase Line

Map of the Chase Line. Not to scale.
Overview
Type Suburban rail, Heavy rail
System National Rail
Status Operational
Locale Staffordshire
West Midlands
West Midlands (region)
Operation
Owner Network Rail
Technical
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
Chase/Walsall Line
Legend
West Coast Main Line to Crewe
35:56 Stafford
Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line to Wolverhampton
26:35 Rugeley Trent Valley
Trent Valley Line to Rugby
Rugeley B Power Station
25:10 Rugeley Town
Brindley Heath
20:68 Hednesford
18:79 Cannock
M6 Toll motorway
Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay closed 1964
16:75 Landywood
Limit of Centro operated area
14:64 Bloxwich North
14:15 Bloxwich
Birchills
former South Staffordshire Line to Lichfield
Sutton Park Line
Wolverhampton and Walsall Ry to Wolverhampton
11:13 Walsall
Walsall to Wolverhampton Line
South Staffordshire Line to Stourbridge
M6 motorway
to Wolverhampton
9:20 Bescot Stadium
Bescot freight yard
8:21 Tame Bridge Parkway
Tame Valley Canal
M5 motorway
Newton Road closed 1945
5:49 Hamstead
to Wolverhampton
Soho Junctions (left) and Perry Barr Junctions
4:06 Perry Barr
3:18 Witton
A38(M) motorway
Cross-City Line
2:41 Aston
to Stechford
1:26 Duddeston
0:00 Birmingham New Street
New Street South Tunnels
Proof House Junction
Birmingham International
West Coast Main Line to Coventry
- Centro free car parking
- Other car parking
Distances are shown in miles and chains

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. The name of the line refers to Cannock Chase which it runs through at its northern end.

Overview

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 is not electrified, and continues north to Hednesford and Rugeley. This section was freight-only, and reopened 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)

Walsall Line (Birmingham-Walsall)

Passenger trains are operated by London Midland on behalf of Centro.

Services

A Class 323 calls at Perry Barr.

Monday to Saturday daytime there are four trains per hour from Birmingham New Street to Walsall. Two per hour call at all stations, the other two per hour call at Tame Bridge Parkway and Walsall. Off peak one of these continues to Rugeley Trent Valley, with two trains per hour to Rugeley in the peak hours.

Monday to Saturday evenings and all day Sunday there are two trains per hour (one stopping and one semi-fast) between Walsall and Birmingham and an hourly service to Rugeley Trent Valley.

Class 323 Electric Multiple Units are used for services on the electrified section between Birmingham and Walsall. The services which continue beyond Walsall on the non-electrified stretch to Rugeley use Class 170 Diesel Multiple Units.

History

The line via Aston, Perry Barr and Bescot is the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837.

The section between Walsall and Cannock was constructed by the South Staffordshire Railway.

The section between Cannock and Rugeley was constructed by the Cannock Mineral Railway.

Reopening

The line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley closed to passengers in 1965, remaining open to freight. 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
  • 12 December 2008 Chase Line trains are withdrawn from the Stafford - Rugeley Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line

Electrification

The lines between New Street and Walsall were electrified in 1966 as an offshoot of the West Coast Main Line electrification.[1]

On 16 July 2012, the coalition government announced the overhead electrification of the Chase Line between Rugeley Trent Valley and Walsall, with work scheduled to take place from 2014, with an estimated completion date of December 2017. It is estimated to cost around £36m, as part of a £9.4bn package of investment in the railways in England and Wales, including £4.2bn of new schemes, unveiled by the government. The electrification was first discussed in the early 1960s, but funding was secured by Aidan Burley, MP for Cannock Chase in February 2013 after his Adjournment Debate on 14 June 2012.[2] Electrification work is due to start in late 2013.

The electrification of the line will be accompanied by a speed increase from the current 45mph to 75mph. Consultation in still in progress over a scheme to close Bloxwich level crossing to motorised traffic, enabling the current 20mph speed limit to be lifted. It will also enable the line to transport W10 freight containers. Preliminary work to re-signal the route ahead of electrification is due to be completed in August 2013, with the closure of the three remaining manual signal boxes at Bloxwich, Hednesford & Brereton Sidings and the panel boxes at Walsall & Bescot. Control of the area will then pass to the West Midlands SCC at Saltley.

For residents of the area, the changes will mean reduced journey times[3] and reduced overcrowding to Birmingham (up to 15 minutes shorter, 4tph) and the surrounding areas, as well as the introduction of new services to Birmingham International (2tph), Coventry (2tph), Liverpool Lime Street and even the possibility of a direct service to London Euston.[4] The electrification itself will create over 1300 jobs in the area and generate a further £113 million of gross value added (GVA) benefit per annum, as well as reducing the operating costs of the line.

References

  1. British Railways Engineering 1948-80" by John Johnson and Robert A. Long (Mechanical Engineering Publications Ltd, 1981
  2. Debate: Walsall-Rugeley Line (Electrification)
  3. High speed rail and supporting investments in the West Midlands
  4. "£30m to improve Midlands train link". Express & Star. Retrieved 15 Feb 2013. 
  • 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)

External links

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