A collection of railway lines in the West Midlands, England
This is about the lines in the West Midlands. The name also sometimes refers to the lines through Snow Hill Tunnel in London, now part of the Thameslink route.
The original Snow Hill station was closed in 1972. The Snow Hill lines in their present form came into being between 1987 and 1995, when Snow Hill station, and the line through to Smethwick was reopened, in order to create a new cross-city rail service via Snow Hill and Moor Street stations. The former line to Wolverhampton was reopened as the Midland Metro tram line in 1999.
This is a commuter branch line, which branches off from the Chiltern Main Line at Tyseley and runs south to Stratford-upon-Avon. The line was formerly a through main line running south to Cheltenham, but has been a dead end branch since the 1970s. Frequent commuter services run as far as Whitlocks End, with a less frequent service running to Stratford. A spur line from Hatton allows some services to run via Solihull.
Rolling stock and operators
Unlike the lines to/through New Street station, the lines are not electrified, and are operated by diesel multiple units. West Midlands Railway, who operate the local services on the routes, mainly use Class 172 DMUs. These replaced the older Class 150 in 2011.[1]Chiltern Railways use Class 165 and Class 168 diesel multiple units, and Class 68 locomotives with Mark 3 coaches. However, electrification is a future aspiration of Network Rail and Chiltern Railways.[4]
Services
West Midlands Railway
The local services on the Snow Hill Lines are closely integrated. As of 2023, West Midlands Railway run four trains per hour between Kidderminster, Birmingham Snow Hill, and Birmingham Moor Street.
Chiltern Railways run two trains per hour from either Snow Hill or Moor Street to London Marylebone calling at Solihull and Leamington Spa. Chiltern Railways also run a two-hourly local service from Moor Street to Leamington. In peak hours some Chiltern services to or from London continue to Stourbridge Junction.
In October 2018, as part of a 30-year strategy of Transport in the West Midlands several interventions were proposed between 2018 and 2047. By 2026 it was proposed that trains would be lengthened, improvements to evening services (from May 2019), investigations of a case to extend services to Brierley Hill and West Midland Safari Park and reopening platform 4 at Snow Hill. By 2034, it was proposed that Birmingham to Rowley Regis, Dorridge, Whitlocks End and Stratford upon Avon services would be increased which would see a new turn back facilities at Rowley Regis and capacity interventions at Moor Street and Snow Hill. Beyond 2034, it was proposed that there may be capacity improvements between Leamington Spa and Birmingham, a new semi-fast service between Birmingham and Oxford via Solihull, local service frequency increases and Safari Park service increases.[5]