A short link was opened at the same time by the Great Western Railway (GWR) which connected the Stourbridge Railway at Smethwick to the Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Line at Handsworth, allowing trains to run into Snow Hill station. By 1870, the OWWR and Stourbridge Railway had been absorbed by the GWR, later passing to British Railways in 1948.[4][3]
In the late 1960s, services to Snow Hill were run down. In 1967 most services on the line were diverted to Birmingham New Street. However a skeleton service of four trains per day, was retained between Snow Hill and Langley Green until March 1972, when Snow Hill station, along with the line to Smethwick West was closed to passengers. A single line as far as Handsworth was kept open for freight traffic (cement & scrap metals).[3][6][7]
Jewellery Line project
Plaque at Snow Hill station, commemorating the opening of the Jewellery Line in 1995.
Snow Hill station was reopened to services from the south in October 1987. In 1993, as part of the project to restore services through Snow Hill, work began on reopening the 4 miles (6km) of line between Smethwick and Snow Hill as the "Jewellery Line"; the line was reopened on 24 September 1995.[8]
The reopening cost £28.5 million in 1995 prices, with the majority of the funding coming from Centro.[8] It allowed cross-city rail services to operate through Snow Hill, and freed up much needed capacity at New Street station. According to Centro, it created "a third cross city line linking the lines to Worcester and Hereford with those to Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington Spa".[6][11]
Passenger services are provided by West Midlands Trains between Birmingham and Worcester and beyond, and by Chiltern Railways between Birmingham and Kidderminster only.
The local service provided by West Midlands Trains comprises:[12]
Four trains per hour from Birmingham Snow Hill to Kidderminster;
Of which two continue to Worcester.
Map of Birmingham to Worcester rail routes
All local services continue beyond Birmingham to either Dorridge, Whitlocks End or Stratford-upon-Avon, with some peak hour trains running to Leamington Spa. A triangular junction at Worcester allows a variety of service patterns (see map). Some trains terminate at Shrub Hill, whereas some reverse there before going to Foregate Street. Other trains take the direct curve to Foregate Street avoiding Shrub Hill. Some trains continue beyond Foregate Street to Malvern Link and Great Malvern.
Chiltern Railways run services to London Marylebone in the morning rush hour, which start from Stourbridge Junction rather than Moor Street, and reverse journeys during the evening.[13]
Before the reopening of Snow Hill, trains along this route ran into Birmingham New Street, where they terminated. Even after the Snow Hill reopening a lower level of service to New Street was maintained, but this link was axed altogether at the May 2004 timetable change, to much local consternation.[14] Passengers for New Street must now either walk between Moor Street and New Street stations, use the Midland Metro between Snow Hill and New Street, or change at Smethwick Galton Bridge. This did however add much needed extra capacity to the Stour Valley Line into Birmingham New Street and free up platform space there. This service took the connection between Galton and Smethwick Junctions near Smethwick West. Services were once hourly from Worcester to Birmingham New Street via Stourbridge.[6]
Two CrossCountry services are timetabled to use the line each day — one service from Birmingham New Street (via Smethwick Junction and Galton Junction) in the early morning and a pair of reverse services in the evening. None of these call at any of the stations along the line and are scheduled to ensure drivers retain knowledge of the route. During congestion or mainly during engineering works, the line sees much more frequent service as a diversionary route. The line from Worcester Shrub Hill continues to Cheltenham Spa railway station, which is the next calling point for most CrossCountry services, and thus offers a convenient alternative when the Lickey Incline is closed.
Several charter trains can often be seen on the line due to the existence of the Severn Valley Railway which has a mainline connection at Kidderminster.
Boynton, John (2001). Main Line to Metro: Train and tram on the Great Western route: Birmingham Snow Hill – Wolverhampton. Kidderminster: Mid England Books. ISBN978-0-9522248-9-1.
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