Notes: Aldridge was opened by the Midland Railway (MR) on 1 July 1879. The station was situated on the double-track Castle Bromwich / Water Orton and Walsall line which was authorised on 6 August 1872 as the Wolverhampton, Walsall & Midland Junction Railway (WW&MJR). The MR was a backer of the scheme, seeing it as a means of gaining access to Wolverhampton from its Birmingham and Derby main line. At Walsall the line had a direct connection with the Walsall and Wolverhampton Railway which came into MR ownership in 1876. The line opened to all traffic on 1 July 1879. One of the difficulties in building the line was encountered at Sutton Park, an attractive area of open space much loved by local people. The WW&MJR had purchased a strip of land through the park despite vociferous protest. With the promise of cheaper coal for the local area the protests had died down.

The station was located to the south of Aldridge on the west side of Walsall Road which passed over the line on a bridge. The main facilities were on the north side of the line on the up (Birmingham-bound) platform. The building was a single-storey, twin pavilion structure of red brick, and gables with prominent parapets faced each elevation; small windows were set into the gables at ‘first floor’ level to light the interior. A platform awning was clasped between the protruding gables.

A brick-built pent-roof waiting shelter was located on the down (Walsall-bound) platform.

Access to the down platform was via the road over bridge which was linked to each platform by a set of steps.

At the time of opening Aldridge was served by trains between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton High Level via Walsall.

In April 1882 a line opened from Aldridge to Brownhills, the junction being located just to the west of the station. A signal box was opened at the west end of the down platform to control the junction. Goods facilities, including a goods shed, were also developed to the west of the station on the north side of the Brownhills branch. On 1 July 1884 a passenger service was introduced onto the Brownhills branch. It ran as a shuttle between Aldridge and Brownhills, and by 1887 there were three Monday-to-Friday services in each direction with an extra service each way on Saturdays.

The December 1895 timetable showed fifteen trains in each direction Monday-to-Friday on the main line. On Saturdays there were two extra up services in each direction and there were three trains each way on Sundays. On the Brownhills branch there were three trains in each direction Monday-to-Friday and five on Saturdays. There was no service to Brownhills on Sundays.

From 1909 most of the main line trains that served Aldridge were diverted at the northern end of their route between Walsall and Wolverhampton to run over LNWR metals via Darlaston. This was to avoid reversal at Walsall and was made possible because of connecting spurs between existing lines that had been put in by the LNWR in 1881.

The July 1922 timetable showed Aldridge as having eleven up and eleven down trains on the main line Monday-to-Saturday. On Sundays there were four trains in each direction.

On 1 January 1923 Aldridge became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS).

The Brownhills service was withdrawn on 31 March 1930. With only three trains in each direction the withdrawal of the service had little impact on Aldridge.

On 5 January 1931 the LMS ceased to operate the few passenger services that ran over the former W&WR and all trains used the LNWR route between Walsall and Wolverhampton. The September 1938 timetable showed fifteen up and Fifteen down trains Monday-to-Friday as shown in the table below. There were four additional services in each way on Saturdays and two trains in each direction on Sundays. By 1938 many of the services on the line ran only between Walsall and Sutton Park.

On 1 January 1948 Aldridge became part of British Railways London Midland Region and by 1949 Aldridge had only five trains in each direction Monday-to-Friday with an additional down service on Saturdays. The Sunday service had ceased. The summer 1957 timetable showed no improvement. In the late 1950s BR fitted totem name signs in the station. In the early 1960s DMUs were introduced to the line, but by the summer of 1961 the service had reduced to only four trains in each direction Mondays-to-Fridays with an extra up and two extra down service on Saturdays.

The 1963 Reshaping of British Railways (‘Beeching’) report recommended the withdrawal of the passenger service between Birmingham New Street and Walsall via Penns. The formal proposal of closure was published on 15 October 1963. As it was down to only a handful of trains per day there was little protest, and on 10 September 1964 Ernest Marples, the Minister of Transport, announced his decision that the stations on the line should close. The passenger service was withdrawn on Monday 18 January 1965, the last trains having run two days earlier.

The line through Aldridge was a busy freight artery providing a useful route that avoided Birmingham and because of this it has remained open. The station was demolished after closure.

Tickets from Michael Stewart, timetable from Chris Totty and route map by Alan Young.

Sources:

• A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 7 The West Midlands , by R Christiansen, David & Charles 1973.
• Bradshaw Timetable December 1895.
• Bradshaw Timetable July 1922.
• Lost Lines, Birmingham and the Black Country, by N Welbourne, Ian Allan 2002.
• Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain a Chronology, by M Quick, Railway & Canal Historical Society 2009.

To see other stations on the Castle Bromwich and Wolverhampton line click on the station name: Castle Bromwich, Penns, Sutton Coldfield Town, Sutton Park, Streetly, North Walsall, Bentley, Short Heath, Willenhall Stafford Street,
Wednesfield and Heath Town

See also Brownhill branch stations: Walsall Wood and Brownhills