Chase Line

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Chase and Walsall Lines

(from north to south)

Stafford
Rugeley Trent Valley
for West Coast Main Line
Rugeley Town
Hednesford
Cannock
Landywood
Bloxwich North
Bloxwich
Walsall
for Wolverhampton line
Bescot Stadium
Tame Bridge Parkway
Hamstead
Perry Barr
Witton
Aston
for Cross-City Line
Duddeston
Birmingham New Street
for all destinations

- Step free access
- Centro free car parking
- Other car parking

Map of the Chase Line. Not to scale.

The Chase Line is the railway line from Birmingham New Street to Walsall and Rugeley.

The line from Birmingham to Walsall (sometimes referred to as the Walsall Line) has two alternative routes, both of which are electrified at 25 kV AC overhead. Of the two routes, one leaves New Street from the east, following the Birmingham Cross-City Line as far as Aston, where it diverges to the west. The other route leaves New Street from the west, and travels via Soho. Beyond Walsall, the line is not electrified, and continues north to Hednesford and Rugeley. The section from Walsall to Rugeley Trent Valley was previously freight-only, and reopened to passenger trains in stages between 1989 and 1998.

Places served on the route are listed below.

Chase Line (Walsall-Rugeley-Stafford)

Walsall Line (Birmingham-Walsall)

Passenger services on the line are operated by Central Trains on behalf of Centro. Two types of services are operated.

Stopping trains from Birmingham New Street to Walsall are operated by Class 323 electrical multiple units. Some stopping trains continue to Hednesford, but use Class 150 diesel multiple units as this section of line is not electrified. Many electric trains from Walsall continue from Birmingham New Street to terminate at Birmingham International, and vice versa.
Services from New Street to Rugeley run non-stop to Walsall. Many services continue beyond Rugeley to Stafford, working over the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line. These services are also operated by Class 150 units.

[edit] Re-opening

The line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley closed to passengers in 1965, although it remained as a freight only line. It re-opened in stages, as follows:

10 April 1989 — Walsall to Hednesford
2 June 1997 — Hednesford to Rugeley Town
25 May 1998 — Rugeley Town to Stafford

[edit] References

A Century of Railways Around Birmingham and the West Midlands, Volume 3 1973-1999, John Boynton.

[edit] External links

The Chase Line.

edit Railway lines in Central England:
Main lines:	Cross-Country Route Midland Main Line West Coast Main Line Birmingham-Peterborough via Leicester Line Birmingham-Worcester via Bromsgrove Line Birmingham-Worcester via Kidderminster Line Cherwell Valley Line Chiltern Main Line London-Aylesbury Line Trent Valley Line Welsh Marches Line Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury Line
Commuter lines:	Birmingham-Rugeley "Chase" Line Birmingham-Stratford Line Birmingham-Walsall Line Coventry-Nuneaton Line Cross-City Line Leicester-Loughborough "Ivanhoe" Line Northampton Loop Line Robin Hood Line Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line Stourbridge Junction-Stourbridge Town Line Walsall-Wolverhampton Line
Rural lines:	Cotswold Line Crewe-Derby Line Derwent Valley Line Leamington-Stratford Line Marston Vale Line Nottingham-Lincoln Line Nottingham to Grantham Line Oxford-Bicester Line Princes Risborough-Aylesbury Line Shrewsbury-Chester Line