Round Oak railway station served the town of

Brierley Hill Brierley Hill is a town and Ward (electoral subdivision), electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands (county), West Midlands (originally in Staffordshire), England. It is located south of Dudley and north of Stourbr ...

, in the West Midlands (historically

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

), England. It was a stop on the

Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot JunctionThe nearby settlement is spelt ''Wolvercote'' and a later station on the LNWR Bicester line follows that spelling. ...

History

The station was opened in 1852. Two railways served it: originally the

Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot JunctionThe nearby settlement is spelt ''Wolvercote'' and a later station on the LNWR Bicester line follows that spelling. ...

and the

South Staffordshire Railway The South Staffordshire Railway (SSR) was authorised in 1847 to build a line from Dudley in the West Midlands conurbation, West Midlands of England through Walsall and Lichfield to a junction with the Midland Railway on the way to Burton upon Tre ...

, which later became the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

and

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

(through amalgamation of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

) respectively.

Accident

In 1858, a coupling broke on an excursion train at the station and the rear portion rolled back down the gradient from Round Oak station towards . It collided with another train, which was part of the same excursion; the train had already been safely divided once, due to its extreme length. 14 passengers were killed and 50 more were injured.

Closure

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

closed the station pre-Beeching in 1962 and plans for freight use were abandoned at the same time.

The site today

Goods trains continue to pass the site, for a few hundred yards northwards, to

Round Oak Steel Terminal Round Oak Steel Terminal is a railway freight terminal dealing in steel from the Round Oak Steel Works until 1982 and from other sources thereafter, in Brierley Hill, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England managed by Tata Steel Europe ...

West Midlands Metro

A £1.1 billion, 15-year-long regeneration project will see the station become part of the local tram network with the line reopening between

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, , and the

Merry Hill Shopping Centre Merry Hill (formerly Intu Merry Hill, Westfield Merry Hill and The Merry Hill Shopping Centre) is a large Shopping center, shopping complex in Brierley Hill near Dudley, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several subsequent ...

for trams on one track and for freight on the other. Freight trains would continue on past and onto the main line at Stourbridge Junction. It was originally set to reopen as a through route in 2012, to run alongside the second phase of the

Midland Metro The West Midlands Metro is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. The network has 33 stops with a total of of track; it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmingham ...

; it is expected that trams will diverge from the line at around the location of . Due to open originally in a revised date of 2023, cost overruns have seen work put back with a currently planned opening date of 2025. However, as of July 2023, no funding of the section between Brierley Hill and the Merry Hill Centre has been made available.

History

Accident

Closure

The site today

West Midlands Metro

References

Further reading