Aldridge railway station

52°36′07″N 1°55′16″W / 52.6020°N 1.9212°W / 52.6020; -1.9212Grid referenceSK053005Platforms2Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryPre-groupingMidland RailwayKey dates1 July 1879Station Opened18 January 1965Station Closed

Aldridge railway station is a disused station on the Midland Railway in England. It was opened in 1879 and closed in 1965, although the track through the station is still in use for freight.

History

Opened by the Midland Railway in 1879, Aldridge railway station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The station was closed by the British Railways Board in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts^[1] and subsequently demolished.

Freight trains still pass the site on the Sutton Park Line.

Reopening

In 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies included the station in a list of proposed station re-openings.^[2]

In February 2021 it was announced that land had been purchased in Aldridge near the site of its former railway station as part of plans led by Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and Aldridge-Brownhills MP Wendy Morton to reopen at least part of the Sutton Park line.^[3] In June 2022 it was announced that Transport for West Midlands had received £150,000 from the government's Restoring Your Railway program which will fund a business case into reopening the station and electrifying the line. At this time, it was stated that the single platform station could open in 2027.^[4]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Streetly Line and station closed		Midland Railway Sutton Park Line		Walsall Line closed, station open
		Midland Railway Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway		North Walsall Line and station closed
Terminus		Midland Railway Aldridge to Brownhills Branch		Walsall Wood Line and station closed

References

External links

• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Aldridge railway station
• Aldridge Web
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Station on navigable O.S. map