Rails In Wolverhampton - The Early Years

by Bev Parker

Wolverhampton like many of its neighbours benefited greatly from the arrival of the railways. Most of these arrivals were stormy affairs due to the intense rivalries and mistrust that existed between individual companies, which often involved a lot of legal wrangling. Wolverhampton was different to most towns because these rivalries got completely out of hand and resulted in a couple of battles taking place between rival companies. One of the most important dates in the early years was 3rd August 1846 when several important railway Bills were passed in Parliament, which allowed the construction of the majority of the local lines.

It was a first class station which meant that all trains stopped there. The company made no attempt to gain access to the centre of Wolverhampton itself, presumably because of the high cost involved. The station's opening caused much concern amongst the local canal companies who feared that their extensive trade could be threatened, but at this time they had nothing to fear because the initial goods services were both limited and expensive.

An intensive coach and omnibus service developed to take passengers to and from the town centre. Two coaches also acted as shuttles to ferry people to coaching inns such as the Swan on High Green, for connections to Worcester, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, and Stourbridge. Initially there were six trains daily in each direction, but the station was never popular being so far from the town centre. Access to the station was dirty, and often covered in sewage. One of the adjacent fields was used for the dumping of night soil, which was the waste from open toilets, and so the whole area was very smelly and unpleasant.

After a year or so the railway company tried to increase the number of passengers using the station by improving the facilities. They also pioneered the use of low fares, which were introduced from August 1841 on the racing trains that brought people to Wolverhampton races. In 1842 the station became a special low fare station with first class travel costing two pence a mile.

By the time the Shrewsbury & Birmingham's Bill had passed through Parliament the London & Birmingham had joined forces with the Grand Junction to form the London & North Western Railway. They in turn were keeping a wary eye on the Great Western Railway who were perceived as a potential threat and were fast approaching Wolverhampton via the Birmingham & Oxford Railway, and the Birmingham, Wolverhampton & Dudley Railway.

The Shrewsbury & Birmingham's Bill gave them a half share in the High Level station, and when the temporary station was built they assumed that all was going according to plan. Things soon started to go wrong as the London & North Western quickly gained control of the Stour Valley Line, and then decided to lease the Shropshire Union Railway, which shared the first ten miles of the Shrewsbury & Birmingham's line. Initially this was opposed by the Shrewsbury & Birmingham but they soon gave in when the London & North Western offered them a traffic agreement in return for running powers over the Stour Valley Line, which would finally give them access to Birmingham. The agreement was ratified by an Act of Parliament in July 1847.

Old Wolverhampton High Level Station.

The latter decided to reduce its fares on the Shropshire Union line from Stafford to Shrewsbury, so ignoring the 1847 agreement.

The Shrewsbury & Birmingham immediately sought, and got an injunction to prevent this practice, but the London & North Western successfully opposed it. A long legal battle and a price war commenced.

The London & North Western retaliated by further delaying the opening of the Stour Valley Line.

The London & North Western were now even more determined to delay the opening of the Stour Valley Line, and if possible prevent the Shrewsbury & Birmingham from using it. Angered by these tactics the Shrewsbury & Birmingham signed a traffic agreement with the Great Western Railway on 10th January 1851, which led to an offer to amalgamate in 1856 or 57. The London & North Western got to hear of this and decided that the Shrewsbury & Birmingham were in breach of their 1847 agreement, and so had lost their right to run on the Stour Valley Line.

A London and North Western "Cauliflower" at the High Level.

The matter immediately proceeded to the local Magistrate's Court, where the Shrewsbury & Birmingham case was based on obstruction. The magistrate urged both parties to find a peaceful solution, and to avoid committing a breach of the peace. The London & North Western delaying tactics continued to work until a court order forced them to open the line. The line eventually opened on 1st February 1852, but for London & North Western goods only. On 1st July the line opened for London & North Western passenger services, and in a further attempt to keep the Shrewsbury & Birmingham at bay, they started a half hourly service on 1st May 1853, claiming that it would be dangerous to have any other trains running at the same time.

The Shrewsbury & Birmingham finally accepted an arbitration award that fixed a high rent for its use of New Street station, and it started running trains there from 4th February 1854. The London & North Western never allowed through ticketing for Shrewsbury & Birmingham trains, and no connections were made.

While this was going on the Great Western lines were rapidly approaching Wolverhampton, the first one opened on 1st July. As the Shrewsbury & Birmingham had been greatly weakened by its fight with the London & North Western it brought its amalgamation with the Great Western forward to 1st September. It was granted an extension to its running powers on the StourValley Line because of a collapsed bridge on the Great Western line between Soho and Handsworth stations. Its trains moved to the Low Level station when the GWR line to Birmingham opened on 14th November 1854.

Conclusion
This has been a very much simplified description of the early railway years at Wolverhampton. The legal battles between the different companies were extremely complex and a complete description of these would  require far more space than is available here. This was also a suitable time to end because by the mid 1850's all of the major lines were in place, the only important features missing were the building of the Great Western Locomotive works at the Stafford Road site in 1859, and the opening of the Midland Railway's line on 1st November 1872.

Bibliography
 

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