Willenhall Bilston Street railway station

Willenhall Bilston Street railway station was a station built on the Grand Junction Railway in 1837.[2]: 22  It served the town of Willenhall, and was located just to the south of the town centre. It was one of two railway stations in the town - the other being Willenhall Stafford Street.

Willenhall Bilston Street
Site of former station
General information
LocationWillenhall, Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
England
Coordinates52.5822°N 2.0534°W / 52.5822; -2.0534
Grid referenceSO964982
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyGrand Junction Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1837Opened[1]
1965Closed[1]

The station is expected to reopen in 2024.

Closure

The station closed in 1965,[1] and there is little evidence of the former station's existence at the site. The lines through the station are in use today as part of the Walsall–Wolverhampton line.

Potential reopening

There were proposals within the West Midlands Local Transport plan to reopen the station for passenger traffic, but these were shelved. In December 2016, as part of the New Station Fund 2 project, the West Midlands Combined Authority put in proposals to reopen the station to passenger services.[3][4][5]

In September 2017, the West Midlands Combined Authority proposed that the station along with Darlaston James Bridge would reopen by 2027 as part of a £4 billion transport plan.[6][7]

In March 2018, the station was awarded funding to reopen and would be the first time Willenhall has had a rail connection in over 40 years. The then Transport minister Chris Grayling confirmed that it will reopen.[8]

The new station will now be constructed on the Wolverhampton side of Bilston Street.

Planning applications for the two stations on the line were formally submitted in March 2020 and were granted permission in October 2020.[9][10] It is currently planned that the station will reopen to passengers in 2024.[11][12]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
  Future services  
Wolverhampton   West Midlands Railway
Wolverhampton – Walsall		   Darlaston
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Portobello   Walsall to Wolverhampton Line
earlier Grand Junction Railway		   Darlaston James Bridge

References
  1. "Willenhall Bilston Street Station". Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  2. Drake, James (1838). Drake's Road Book of the Grand Junction Railway (1838). Moorland Reprints. ISBN 0903485257.
  3. "New Stations Fund (second round)". Proposed Railway Schemes. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  4. "NSF bid submitted for Willenhall". Proposed Railway Schemes. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  5. "New railway station for Willenhall in Walsall?". Walsall Advertiser. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  6. "£4 billion of transport infrastructure over coming decade". West Midlands Combined Authority. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  7. "West Midlands Strategic Transport Plan". Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  8. Preece, Ashley. "Green light for new train station between Walsall and Wolverhampton". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  9. "Reopening of Darlaston and Willenhall train stations moves closer". Express and Star. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  10. "Two new Black Country railway stations receive planning approval".
  11. "Willenhall and Darlaston stations". West Midlands Rail Executive. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022.
  12. Parkes, Thomas (8 April 2023). "Ground conditions still a 'significant risk' to new £55m rail stations - bosses". Express and Star. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023.


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