North Warwickshire Line

North Warwickshire Line (Shakespeare Line)
Diagram of the North Warwickshire Line in green.
Overview
Type	Suburban rail, Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Birmingham Warwickshire West Midlands West Midlands (region)
Stations	20
Operation
Opened	1908
Owner	Network Rail
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The North Warwickshire Line (also known as the Shakespeare Line) is a suburban railway line in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom. It runs from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, now the southern terminus of the line, although until 1976 the line continued to Cheltenham as part of the Great Western Railway route from Birmingham to Bristol.

The line is one of the Snow Hill Lines. It is not electrified and is operated by London Midland using Class 172 diesel multiple units.

The northern part of the line is suburban in nature, and has a regular and busy commuter service into central Birmingham. The southern part (south of Whitlocks End) is rural in nature, and has a less frequent service, with a number of rural request stops.

Despite the name, the line does not pass through the area commonly known as North Warwickshire, instead, the name of the line was believed to be derived from that of the local hunt.

The original plans for the line were promoted by an independent company; the Birmingham, North Warwickshire and Stratford Railway, which received Royal assent in August 1894. The company failed to raise the necessary funds to build the line, and the powers to build it were taken over by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in July 1900. The GWR incorporated the line into their own scheme to build a new Birmingham to Cheltenham via Stratford main line. Construction began in September 1905, the line was opened to goods traffic on 9 December 1907, and to passengers on 1 July 1908.