Stourbridge Railway

Not to be confused with Stourbridge Railroad or Stourbridge Town Branch Line.

The Stourbridge Railway was a small independent railway company in England which existed between 1860, and 1870 when it was taken over by the Great Western Railway (GWR). The company built a line from the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OWWR) at Stourbridge Junction to Smethwick, where it joined the Stour Valley Line at Galton Junction.

History

Opening

The act of Parliament incorporating the company, the Stourbridge Railway Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c. xciv), was passed on 14 June 1860, allowing it to build a three and a half mile long line from Stourbridge Junction to Old Hill, another act of Parliament, the Stourbridge Railway Extension Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. ccxxi), was passed the following year to allow it to reach the Stour Valley Line at Smethwick. The route was open in full by 1 April 1867.

GWR link to Handsworth

The OWWR had come under the control of the GWR by this time, and so in order to integrate the Stourbridge Railway with their system, the GWR constructed a link from the Stourbridge Railway at Smethwick to Handsworth Junction, which was opened at the same time, connecting it to the GWR's Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level Line, allowing trains to run into Snow Hill station. The running of the line was also taken over by the GWR.

Merger with the GWR

The Stourbridge Railway was formally merged with the GWR in 1870 after it emerged that the company's director W. T. Adcock had fraudulently issued stock.

The route today

The line still functions today as part of the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line.

References

• Railways portal

• John Speller's Web Pages - Stourbridge Railway
• Boynton, John (1997). Rails Through The Hills, Birmingham-Stourbridge-Worcester-Malvern-Hereford. Mid England Books. ISBN 0-9522248-2-8.