Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station
Smethwick Galton Bridge  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Smethwick Galton Bridge high-level. | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Smethwick, Sandwell England | ||||
| Grid reference | SP014893 | ||||
| Managed by | West Midlands Railway | ||||
| Transit authority | Transport for West Midlands | ||||
| Platforms | 4 (2 high level, 2 low level) | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | SGB | ||||
| Fare zone | 2 | ||||
| Classification | DfT category E | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | British Rail | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 1995 | Opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2018/19 |  0.807 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.587 million | ||||
| 2019/20 | 0.869 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.616 million | ||||
| 2020/21 |  0.234 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.129 million | ||||
| 2021/22 | 0.500 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.369 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.660 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.388 million | ||||
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Smethwick Galton Bridge is a split-level railway station in Smethwick, West Midlands, England. It is at a point where two railways' lines cross on two levels. It has platforms on both lines, allowing interchange between them. The two low-level platforms serve the Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton Line, while the two high-level platforms serve the Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester Line. The high level line passes over the low level line at a right angle on a bridge. West Midlands Railway manages the station and operates most of its services, with others provided by Chiltern Railways and London Northwestern Railway.
Running parallel to the low-level line is the Birmingham New Main Line canal. The high-level platform extends over the canal, and the line Northbound quickly passes over a surviving section of the higher Old Main Line.
It is an important interchange; over 600,000 people changed trains at the station during 2019/20.[1]
History
[edit]The station was opened in September 1995 at a cost of £4 million as part of the £28.5 million Jewellery Line scheme to reopen the line between Smethwick and Birmingham Snow Hill station.[2] It was built as an interchange station with the Birmingham New Street-Wolverhampton line,[2] and the platforms on both lines opened at the same time. It is named after the adjacent Galton Bridge. Upon opening, the nearby Smethwick West station became redundant and was closed soon after.[2][3] An opening ceremony took place on 24 May 1995 to mark the completion of the new station.[2]
Services
[edit]There are four platforms at Smethwick Galton Bridge. Platforms 1 & 2 are on the Birmingham – Worcester line, whilst Platforms 3 & 4 are on the Birmingham – Wolverhampton line.
High-level
[edit]West Midlands Railway provide most of the passenger services, on the high level platforms they offer 4 tph (trains per hour) between Birmingham Snow Hill and Kidderminster using their Class 172 Turbostar DMUs, of these, 2tph continue past Kidderminster to either Worcester Shrub Hill and/or Worcester Foregate Street, with some services continuing to Great Malvern.[4] In the opposite direction, 2tph extend beyond Snow Hill to Dorridge and 2tph Whitlocks End, with 1tph each from Dorridge and Whitlocks End extending to Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Chiltern Railways also offers an early morning peak service to London Marylebone on the Chiltern Main Line. A return journey operates on weekdays in the other direction in the evening, usually terminating at Stourbridge Junction.[5] They formerly terminated at Kidderminster before the service to Kidderminster was withdrawn in the May 2023 timetable changes.[6][7][8] There is no Chiltern service stopping at the station on Saturdays.
On Sundays, the level of service drops to 1tph between Dorridge and Stourbridge Junction and another tph between Stratford-Upon-Avon (via Whitlocks End) and Worcester stations, providing 2tph for Smethwick Galton Bridge between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stourbridge Junction. On Sundays there is also no return Chiltern service from London to Stourbridge.
Low-level
[edit]
West Midlands Railway also provide the majority of the services on the lower-level platforms. A half-hourly local stopping service between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton operated by Class 350 or Class 730 EMUs, calls at all stops between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, with most trains continuing to Walsall after Birmingham New Street. An hourly long-distance service to/from Liverpool Lime Street via Runcorn run by London Northwestern Railway also calls, originating at Birmingham New Street operated by Class 350 EMUs.[9][10][11] A service to and from Shrewsbury via Telford Central also calls operated by Class 196 DMUs, hourly off-peak with 2tph at peak times. Southbound the service calls at Birmingham New Street only.
On Sunday, the level of service drops to an hourly local service between Walsall and Wolverhampton, stopping at all stations on the line, an hourly service to/from Liverpool Lime Street and an hourly service to/from Shrewsbury.[12]
The Transport for Wales calls were withdrawn and moved to Sandwell & Dudley in the December 2022 timetable change.[13]
Transport Links
[edit]The majority of people who travel towards Smethwick Galton Bridge travel via bus. The buses that travel to Smethwick Galton Bridge are the 80 travelling towards Birmingham and West Bromwich, and the 87 bus travelling towards Dudley and Birmingham.[14]
There is limited parking, as it only has a small car park, right next to the station and a bigger car park across the road.
References
[edit]- ^ "Station usage - : Office of Rail Regulation". Archived from the original on 12 June 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Three new stations in summer timetable". Modern Railways. No. 562. July 1999. p. 388.
- ^ "Smetwick Galton Bridge, 1995 present". Rail around Birmingham & the West Midlands. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- ^ "Train times | Snow Hill Lines - Worcester to Birmingham Snow Hill, Solihull and Stratford upon Avon | 21 May until 9 December 2023". West Midlands Railway. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Timetable - 21 May 2023 - December 2023: London to High Wycombe, Bicester, Oxford, Banbury, Leamington Spa, Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham". Chiltern Railways. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "From Sunday 21 May 2023, we will introduce our new timetable". Chiltern Railways. 21 May 2023. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Passengers advised new train timetables imminent". BBC News. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 6 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
- ^ "Chiltern Railways customers in Oxfordshire urged to check their journey as all train times in Banbury and Bicester set to change". Oxfordshire Live. 3 May 2023. Archived from the original on 20 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Timetable | Birmingham New Street - Liverpool Lime Street | Timetable from Sunday 10 December 2023". London Northwestern Railway.
- ^ "Train times | 10 December until 1 June 2024 | Rugeley to Birmingham New Street via Walsall". West Midlands Railway.
- ^ "Train times | 10 December 2023 until 1 June 2024 | Wolverhampton to Birmingham via Smethwick". West Midlands Railway.
- ^ "Train Timetables and Schedules | Smethwick Galton Bridge". West Midlands Railway. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "December Timetable Change – what's happening?". Railsmartr. Archived from the original on 20 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Detail". Network West Midlands. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
Further reading
[edit]- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2007). Worcester to Birmingham. Middleton Press. figs. 96-98. ISBN 9781904474975. OCLC 263292710.
External links
[edit]
- Train times and station information for Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station from National Rail
- Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Smethwick Galton Bridge station