The Midland Railway branches around Walsall were built to give the Midland Railway independent access to Wolverhampton, and to a colliery district at Brownhills. The Midland Railway had a stake in the South Staffordshire Railway giving it access to Walsall, and the Walsall and Wolverhampton Railway (W&WR) was opened in 1872. At first the W&WR was independent and neutral, but it was acquired by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), and then sold by that company to the Midland Railway.
The South Staffordshire Railway too was acquired by the LNWR and the Midland Railway's rights over it were uncertain. The Midland company sponsored the Wolverhampton, Walsall and Midland Junction Railway (WW&MJR), running east from Walsall to join the Midland Railway main line at Water Orton. It opened in 1879. A Brownhills branch line was opened from a junction on the WW&MJR line in 1882.
Although the Midland Railway got its desired access to Wolverhampton, the LNWR developed a network of lines that dominated the area, and the Midland never established itself, although it did open its own goods station at Wolverhampton. The W&WR section closed completely in 1965 and the WW&MJR section lost its passenger service in 1965, although it remains open for freight traffic and occasional special passenger trains.
Black Country industry
Birmingham and the area to the west and north had been active in industry since well before the beginning of the nineteenth century. This was due to many factors, including the availability of raw materials, transport facilities on rivers and, later, canals, and relative freedom of employment. Iron production, and non-ferrous metal production were dominant, but many other industries were supported, including leather and glass, pottery, and for a time calico printing, although this last was not successful locally in the long term. There were extensive coal deposits near the surface, with iron ore and beds of fire clay.
A particular feature was specialist work, where companies provided components and raw materials to manufacturers elsewhere, who then assembled a finished product. For that reason, local transport within the area became increasingly important.
First railways
The first modern railway in the area was the Grand Junction Railway, which opened its line in 1837, running from a station in Birmingham to Warrington, connecting on to Manchester and Liverpool. Its somewhat roundabout route passed near, but not through, Walsall and Wolverhampton, both of them important industrial towns. Neither place was given a convenient station. There was a Walsall station, well over a mile from the centre of the town, and there was a Wolverhampton station, a mile from the town centre.
In 1846 the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was formed by amalgamation of the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. At once in control of a large geographical area, the LNWR set about expanding its network and deepening its control, in many cases by the use of affiliated local companies.
The LNWR sponsored a nominally independent company called the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway (BW&SVR); it was incorporated in 1846 and it was to build a direct line from Birmingham through Tipton to Wolverhampton, joining the old Grand Junction Railway route at Bushbury, north-west of Wolverhampton. The route became known as the Stour Valley Line. A new central station called New Street station was to be built in Birmingham. The BW&SVR was substantially completed in 1852 and immediately leased in perpetuity to the LNWR. It gave Wolverhampton a proper station, served directly from Birmingham. The Birmingham station was completed later, in 1854.
The Midland Railway was formed in 1844 by amalgamation of earlier lines. It too had a large network and it too sought to expand its territory. In the Birmingham area it had a line north-eastwards to Burton upon Trent and Derby, and another south-westwards to Gloucester; these routes passed Birmingham on the eastern side, with an inconveniently located terminal at Lawley Street.