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As far as Stourbridge this line was originally part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. The line from Worcester to Droitwich Spa and the spur to Stoke Works opened on 18th February 1852. Droitwich to Stourbridge opened on 1st May 1852 and Stourbridge to Dudley on 20th December 1852.
The Stourbridge Railway built a line from Stourbridge to Old Hill that opened 1st April 1863. This became part of the West Midland Railway and Old Hill to Cradley opened 1st January 1866 and the rest of the line to Galton Junction opened 1st April 1867.
The railway line remains open from Worcester to Stourbridge and Birmingham. However the section built by the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway from Stourbridge to Priestfield (Wolverhampton) remains open for freight only as far as Round Oak. At the Worcester end there are tracks from both Foregate Street and Shrub Hill stations to a junction at Tunnel Hill. These tracks form two sides of a triangle inside which was situated the locomotive sheds.
Shortly after leaving Worcester there were short lived halts at Astwood (opened 1936, closed 1946) and at Blackpole (open from 1917 to 1920 and again from 1940 to 1946). The first stations of significance were Fernhill Heath (closed 5th April 1965) and Droitwich. At the east end of Droitwich there is a short spur on the right hand that leads to a station at Stoke Works (closed) and a junction with the former Birmingham and Gloucester Railway from Birmingham New Street to Bristol. This spur allows trains from Worcester to run through to New Street.
From Droitwich the line goes through Cutnall Green Halt (opened 1928, closed 5th April 1965) to Hartlebury (originally Hartlebury Junction) (where the Severn Valley Railway started) and Kidderminster (also on the Severn Valley Railway).
The next stations are Blakedown (originally Churchill & Blakedown) and Hagley before the line reaches Stourbridge Junction (where there is a short branch to Stourbridge Town). The current station at Stourbridge Junction was built in 1901 on a slightly different site to the original (open from 1852 to 1901).
The line then goes to Lye before passing briefly in Staffordshire at Cradley Heath (originally Cradley) and Old Hill and returning to Worcestershire at Rowley Regis (originally Rowley) and Langley Green.
The line then returns to Staffordshire through closed stations at Rood End (open from 1st April 1867 to 1885) and Smethwick West. At Smethwick West the line split into two with one part joining the G.W.R. line from Wolverhampton Low Level to Birmingham Snow Hill at Handsworth Junction and the other line joining the L.N.W.R. line from Wolverhampton High Level to Birmingham New Street at Galton Junction
In an act of amazing folly, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (W.M.P.T.E) closed the line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Smethwick West to passengers along with Snow Hill station on 4th March 1972, after which all trains went to Birmingham New Street. However, the W.M.P.T.E safeguarded the trackbed from development and a more enlightened management at W.M.P.T.E. (now known as Centro) authorised the reopening of the line. Amid great celebration the line reopened on 25th September 1995 with new stations at Galton Bridge, The Hawthorns and Jewellery Quarter.
It should be noted that since 1974 all of the line from Stourbridge to Birmingham is in the former West Midlands County.