Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station

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 manage the station and operate the majority of its services, with others provided by Chiltern Railways, London Northwestern Railway and Transport for Wales.

Smethwick Galton Bridge
Smethwick Galton Bridge high-level.
Location
PlaceSmethwick
Local authoritySandwell
Grid referenceSP014893
Operations
Station codeSGB
Managed byWest Midlands Railway
Number of platforms4 (2 high level, 2 low level)
DfT categoryE
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.577 million
2015/16 0.640 million
2016/17 0.664 million
2017/18 0.673 million
2018/19 0.807 million
– Interchange 0.587 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTETransport for West Midlands
Zone2
History
1995Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Smethwick Galton Bridge from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

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; 587,287 people changed trains at the station during 2018/19.[1]

History

The station was opened in September 1995 as part of the Jewellery Line scheme to reopen the line between Smethwick and Birmingham Snow Hill station. It was built as an interchange station between two lines, 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]

Services

There are 4 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
"Moontrap" by Mark Renn sits outside the station, marking the public transport interchange

West Midlands Railway provide most of the passenger services, on the high level platforms they offer 6 tph (trains per hour) between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stourbridge Junction using their Class 172 Turbostar DMUs, of these, 4tph continue past Stourbridge to Kidderminster, and two of these continue to either Worcester Shrub Hill and/or Worcester Foregate Street, with some services continuing to Great Malvern.[3] In the opposite direction, 3tph extend beyond Snow Hill to Dorridge and 3tph Whitlocks End, with 1tph each from Dorridge and Whitlocks End extending to Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Chiltern Railways also offer morning peak services to London Marylebone on the Chiltern Mainline with return journeys in the other direction in the evening, usually terminating at Kidderminster.

On Sundays, the level of service drops to 1tph between Dorridge and Stourbridge Junction and another tph between Stratford-Upon-Avon (via Whitlock's End) and Worcester stations, providing 2tph for Smethwick Galton Bridge between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stourbridge Junction.

Low-level

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 323 and Class 350 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 Liverpool Lime Street run by London Northwestern Railway also calls, originating at Birmingham New Street operated by Class 350 EMU. Transport for Wales operates an hourly semi-fast service to Shrewsbury and then either Chester/Holyhead or Aberystwyth and Pwllheli (alternate hours) using their Class 158 DMU units, and to Birmingham International in the opposite direction, providing Smethwick Galton Bridge with a direct rail link to Birmingham International Airport. These services combined provide the station 4tph to Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton.[4]

The low-level platforms

On Sunday, the level of service drops to an hourly local service between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton, stopping at all stations on the line, and an hourly long-distance service between Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street, providing Smethwick Galton Bridge with 2tph to both Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Birmingham
New Street		   Transport for Wales
Birmingham - Chester		   Wolverhampton
  Transport for Wales
Birmingham - Aberystwyth / Pwllheli		  
Smethwick Rolfe Street   West Midlands Railway
Walsall / Birmingham - Wolverhampton		   Sandwell and Dudley
Birmingham New Street   London Northwestern Railway
Birmingham - Liverpool		   Wolverhampton
The Hawthorns   West Midlands Railway
Leamington Spa - Worcester		   Langley Green
  Chiltern Railways
London - Kidderminster		  

References
  1. "Station usage - : Office of Rail Regulation".
  2. "Smetwick Galton Bridge, 1995 present". Rail around Birmingham & the West Midlands. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  3. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 71
  4. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 68 & 75

Further reading
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2007). Worcester to Birmingham. Middleton Press. figs. 96-98. ISBN 9781904474975. OCLC 263292710.

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