Dudley Freightliner Terminal

Dudley Freightliner Terminal

The former Dudley Freightliner Terminal signal box's remnants in 2003.
Location
Place Dudley
Area Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Operations
Post-grouping British rail, then Freightliner
History
1967 Opened as Dudley Freightliner Terminal
1989 Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Dudley Freightliner Terminal was opened on the site of Dudley railway station in October 1967, as one of Freightliner's first rail terminals. It was an instant financial success and by 1981 was one of the most profitable Freightliner terminals in Britain, but Freightliner UK announced plans to close it and transfer the staff to the less successful Birmingham terminal. These plans were shelved in 1983 but resurfaced in 1986, with the terminal finally closing in September 1989. Trains passed through the site of the Freightliner terminal until the Wednesbury to Round Oak section of the South Staffordshire Line closed in 1993.

History

The station platform became the depot platform, but with no buildings save for the odd shed. A concrete strip was built over one of the Tipton Five Way lines to act as a footing for a large gantry crane that had its other footing on the old platform. The old signal box was at the Blower's Green end of the station and was demolished in 1967 and replaced by a modernized one besides the main road's embankment. The sidings near the castle's side embankment were replaced by the manager's office, a staff room and some sheds.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

The Freightliner equipment was removed in about 1990 and the site of the former terminal is now little more than an overgrown field, though the some of concrete surface remains in place near the tracks - most of it was ripped up and removed in the late 1990s. The adjacent signal box was closed on 5 June 1988 and damaged in an arson attack the following year, being dismantled in the early 1990s.[8]

Today's usage

People regularly use it for walking, bird watching and walking their dogs.

There were plans for a waste reception centre to be developed on the site in 1997, but these were quickly shelved. There have also been plans for housing and even a new football stadium to be built on the site. In 2014, part of the land was developed for a road link between Dudley Zoo and the Black Country Museum, as well as parking facilities for visitors to these attractions.

Midland Metro

A £1,100,000/15-year-long regeneration project will see the station become part of the local tram network with the line reopening between Walsall, Dudley Port railway station, Dudley railway station and the Merry Hill Shopping Centre for trams on one track and for freight on the other. The freighters would continue on past Brettell Lane railway station and on to the mainline at Stourbridge junction.[9] The closed section of railway through Dudley is expected to re-open by 2023,[10] as a combined Midland Metro tramway and a heavy rail line for goods trains.

When the Midland Metro opens, it is expected that the route will involve trams leaving the traditional line near the former terminal site and passing through Dudley town centre before rejoining the line at the north mouth of the Dudley Railway Tunnel.

Part of the terminal site is expected to be occupied by an expansion to Dudley Zoo and its overflow car park is already in situ.

Work to clear the site of vegetation and the old track began in early 2017.

Historic imagery of the site


Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Great Bridge North railway station
or
Terminus
  BR, then Freightliner
South Staffs Line (inc. Dudley-Stourbridge Junction to 1962) (1852-1964)
  Stourbridge Junction railway station
or
Terminus

See also

References

Coordinates: 52°31′01″N 2°04′28″W / 52.517°N 2.0745°W / 52.517; -2.0745

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