Smethwick West railway station

Smethwick West
The remains of Smethwick West station in 2010
Location
Place	Smethwick
Area	Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell
Coordinates	52°30′06″N 1°59′02″W / 52.5016°N 1.9839°W / 52.5016; -1.9839Coordinates: 52°30′06″N 1°59′02″W / 52.5016°N 1.9839°W / 52.5016; -1.9839
Grid reference	SP011892
Operations
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Platforms	2
History
1 April 1867	Opened as Smethwick Junction
17 September 1956	Renamed Smethwick West
1996	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Smethwick West was a railway station on the Great Western Railway between Stourbridge Junction station and Smethwick Junction. It was opened as Smethwick Junction railway station in 1867.

It closed in 1996, being replaced by a new railway station, Smethwick Galton Bridge, around 110 yards (100 metres) to the east, which serves two railway lines.

Smethwick Junction railway station was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1867. It was located on the Great Western Railway line running between Smethwick Junction and Stourbridge Junction station. The junction connected the Great Western route to the Stour Valley Line, which is now part of the West Coast route. In 1956 the British Transport Commission renamed the station to Smethwick West.

With the run down of Birmingham Snow Hill, passenger services were diverted to Birmingham New Street from 1967; and Smethwick West became a station on the route between Birmingham New Street, Stourbridge Junction and Worcester Foregate Street.

Reduced levels of local services continued from Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level; with four trains per day from Snow Hill to Langley Green, via Smethwick West, using Class 122 units, nicknamed "bubble cars". These services ended in March 1972; and the Great Western route to Birmingham Snow Hill also closed in 1972. A single freight-only line to Coopers Scrap Yard, on the Great Western line in Handsworth was kept in use.