Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line

Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line
Class 172 pulls out from Smethwick Galton Bridge.
Overview
Type	Suburban rail, Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Worcestershire West Midlands West Midlands (region)
Termini	Birmingham Snow Hill Worcester
Stations	16
Operation
Opened	1867
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	London Midland Chiltern Railways CrossCountry
Rolling stock	Class 150 Sprinter Class 153 Sprinter Class 168 Clubman Class 172 turbostar Class 170 turbostar Class 220 Voyager Class 221 Super Voyager Class 43 HST
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line is a suburban railway line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester via Stourbridge and Kidderminster. It is one of the Snow Hill Lines, with trains operated by London Midland and Chiltern Railways using Class 172 and Class 168 diesel units. It is a future aspiration of Network Rail to electrify the entire line, as well as the Chiltern Main Line to London Marylebone.

The line is one of two railway routes between Birmingham and Worcester, the other route runs via Bromsgrove.

The line was used mostly by GWR trains from Snow Hill, but some London and North Western Railway and Midland Railway trains from Birmingham New Street to Worcester and Hereford via Galton Junction also used the line, until 1917, when all trains on the line ran into Snow Hill.

In the late 1960s, services to Snow Hill were run down. In 1967 most services on the line were diverted to Birmingham New Street. However a skeleton service of four trains per day, was retained between Snow Hill and Langley Green until March 1972, when Snow Hill station, along with the line to Smethwick West was closed to passengers. A single line as far as Handsworth was kept open for freight traffic (cement & scrap metals).