Early history Most of the present route was opened in 1837 by the
Grand Junction Railway (GJR). Built as a long-distance trunk route connecting the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway with
Birmingham, the original GJR line did not directly serve either Walsall or Wolverhampton, instead running around the outskirts of both settlements. A station on the original line called
Wolverhampton was opened in 1837, a mile east of the town centre. This station was renamed in 1855 after the centrally located
Wolverhampton (High level) station on the
Stour Valley Line was opened. Wednesfield Heath was then closed in 1873. A station called
Walsall (also known as
Bescot Bridge) was also opened in 1837, located some distance from the town. This station was closed in 1850, shortly after the present station opened on the
South Staffordshire Line. It was reopened as in 1881 and closed again in 1941. The GJR amalgamated with other railways to form the
London and North Western Railway (LNWR) in 1846. The present line was completed in 1881, when the LNWR constructed two spurs from the GJR at Wolverhampton and Walsall. The Wolverhampton spur diverged south from the original line and linked to Wolverhampton (High Level) station. The spur at the Walsall end diverged north from the GJR and linked to the South Staffordshire Line at Pleck Junction, where it gave access to Walsall station. station was opened on the Walsall spur and closed in 1958. and the service was given a temporary reprieve. There were also proposals to reopen the stations at and to increase passenger numbers and the viability of the service. During the early-mid 2000s, the line was used as part of an hourly service between Walsall and
Wellington. But these services were withdrawn in 2006 and the service was reduced to an hourly service between Walsall and Wolverhampton, with only one or two trains per day in each direction extending to Wellington in the early morning and late at night. It was announced in July 2008 that the government was withdrawing funding for this service, Although Centro retained ambitions to reinstate the service and reopen stations at and Portobello, its plans were put on hold in 2012 pending the next West Midlands franchise award in 2016. A service calling at all stations via Birmingham New street then took over, taking over 1 hour, compared with 15 minutes for the direct service, and London Midland advised passengers to use the
National Express West Midlands 529 bus instead.
Recent history The
West Midlands Combined Authority announced their intention to restore a passenger service to the line, along with new stations at Willenhall and Darlaston in 2017. As part of these proposals, the two local stations were to drop their original suffixes of Bilston Street and James Bridge respectively. In August 2018, land was secured for the proposed station at
Darlaston. The proposed timetable for the line at the time included an hourly Wolverhampton to Walsall service as well as an hourly Wolverhampton to Birmingham service calling at
Willenhall,
Darlaston and . The line was also identified by the
Campaign for Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening. Planning applications for the two intermediate stations were formally submitted in March 2020. Construction began in autumn 2021, with a month-long pause in September 2023 due to a contractor takeover. From the timetable change in May 2022,
London Northwestern Railway services between
Crewe and
Birmingham New Street via
Stoke-on-Trent began running on the line again, in preparation for the opening of the two new stations. Willenhall and Darlaston stations reopened to the public on Thursday 19 March 2026, with an hourly service in each direction between Birmingham New Street and
Shrewsbury via
Tame Bridge Parkway and
Wolverhampton six days a week. == Future Plans ==