Wednesbury Great Western Street tram stop

Wednesbury Great Western Street is a tram stop in Wednesbury, Sandwell, England. It was opened on 31 May 1999 and is situated on Midland Metro Line 1. The stop is next to the Midland Metro tram depot.

Wednesbury Great Western Street
Midland Metro tram stop
LocationWednesbury
Sandwell
England
Line(s)Line 1 (Birmingham – Wolverhampton)
Platforms2
History
Opened31 May 1999
Passengers
2015/16Approx. 1,500 daily[1]

The stop and depot are on the site of the old Wednesbury Central railway station, which closed in 1972, though the section of railway on which the tram stop currently stands remained open to goods trains until 1992.

The stop is overlooked by a statue of Sleipnir, Odin's mythical eight-legged horse, by Steve Field, commissioned by Altram, the company that built the metro.[2]

Sleipnir by Steve Field

Services

Mondays to Fridays, Midland Metro services in each direction between Birmingham and Wolverhampton run at six to eight-minute intervals during the day, and at fifteen-minute intervals during the evenings and on Sundays. They run at eight minute intervals on Saturdays.[3]

South Staffordshire Line

The South Staffordshire Line which is currently closed, is crossed over by the Midland Metro. Wednesbury Great Western will also be the start of the Wednesbury - Brierley Hill Extension which will utilize the railway line to the former station sites at Great Bridge North railway station, Dudley Port railway station, Dudley railway station before running through Dudley town centre and will reconnect to the line at Canal Street before finally leaving the line around Harts Hill railway station, towards Merry Hill Shopping Centre and Brierley Hill.

This line may also be used by heavy rail between Walsall and it will run the entire track to Round Oak. This could make it the second Midland Metro scheme to share a trackbed with heavy rail. With the other being the shared trackbed between The Hawthorns and Birmingham Snow Hill railway station. There is also potential for a tram service between Wolverhampton and Wednesbury, via Walsall, which would use the line between Walsall railway station and the former Wednesbury Town railway station, along with the majority of the Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway. Transport for West Midlands are currently undertaking a feasibility scheme into the possibility of a metro extension to Stourbridge, with stops at Brockmoor, Brettell Lane railway station, Amblecote, Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town.

A short walk away is the site of another former railway line which served the former Patent Shaft steel works and continued through Darlaston. The distinct GWR goods sheds are still standing.

References
  1. "2016 West Midlands Travel Trends Covering Report" (PDF). West Midlands Combined Authority. p. 39. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  2. "'SILLY' STATUE SPARKS ROW; Horse sculptor defends work". Birmingham Evening Mail. 8 July 1998. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013 – via HighBeam.
  3. "Midland Metro timetable". Network West Midlands. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
Preceding station   Midland Metro   Following station
Wednesbury Parkway   Line 1   Black Lake
Preceding station   Midland Metro   Following station
Terminus   Line 2   Great Bridge or Golds Hill


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