Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station

Smethwick Galton Bridge
Smethwick Galton Bridge high-level.
Location
Place	Smethwick
Local authority	Sandwell
Grid reference	SP014893
Operations
Station code	SGB
Managed by	London Midland
Number of platforms	4
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	0.344 million
2011/12	0.495 million
2012/13	0.516 million
2013/14	0.561 million
2014/15	0.577 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	West Midlands
Zone	2
History
1995	Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Smethwick Galton Bridge from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Smethwick Galton Bridge is a split-level railway station in Smethwick, West Midlands, England. It is at a point where two railways lines cross on two levels. It has platforms on both lines, allowing interchange between them. The two low-level platforms serve the Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton Line, while the two high-level platforms serve the Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester Line. The high level line passes over the low level line at a right angle on a bridge. London Midland manage the station and operate the majority of its services, with others provided by Chiltern Railways and Arriva Trains Wales.

The present station opened in 1995 when the line from Birmingham Snow Hill reopened, replacing the nearby Smethwick West station. It is named after the adjacent Galton Bridge. It is an important interchange; 461,664 people changed trains at the station during 2014/15.^[1]

Services

There are 4 platforms at Smethwick Galton Bridge. Platforms 1 & 2 are on the Birmingham - Worcester line, whilst Platforms 3 & 4 are on the Birmingham - Wolverhampton. London Midland provide most of the passenger services, on the high level platform they offer 6 tph (trains per hour) between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stourbridge Junction using their Class 172 Turbostar DMUs, with the majority of trains extending past the two aforementioned stations. As it stands, out of the 6 trains that terminate at Stourbridge Junction, four continue to Kidderminster, and two continue to either Worcester Shrub Hill and/or Worcester Foregate Street, with some services continuing to Great Malvern.^[2] In the opposite direction, there are 3tph to Dorridge and Whitlock's End, with 1tph each from Dorridge and Whitlock's End extending to Stratford-Upon-Avon, providing Stratford-Upon-Avon with 2 trains per hour between Stratford-Upon-Avon and Birmingham Snow Hill. Chiltern Railways also offer morning peak services to London Marylebone on the Chiltern Mainline, and evening peak services from London Marylebone, with the majority terminating at Kidderminster using their Class 67, Mark 3 coaches and Class 82 DVT, and Class 168 units

The low-level platforms

On Sundays, the level of service drops to 1tph between Dorridge and Stourbridge Junction and another tph between Stratford-Upon-Avon (via Whitlock's End) and Worcester stations, providing 2tph for Smethwick Galton Bridge between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stourbridge Junction.

London Midland also provide the majority of the services on the lower level platforms. A half-hourly local stopping service between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton operated by Class 323 and Class 350 EMU, calling at Sandwell & Dudley, Dudley Port, Tipton, Coseley and Wolverhampton, most trains continue to Walsall after Birmingham New Street, and an hourly long distance service to Liverpool Lime Street, originating at Birmingham New Street operated by Class 350 EMU. Arriva Trains Wales operates an hourly semi-fast service to Shrewsbury and then either Chester/Holyhead or Aberystwyth and Pwlheli (alternate hours) using their Class 158 DMU units, and to Birmingham International in the opposite direction, providing Smethwick Galton Bridge with a direct rail link to Birmingham International Airport. These services combined provide the station 4tph to Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton.^[3]

On Sunday, the level of service drops to an hourly local service between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton, stopping at all stations on the line, and an hourly long distance service between Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street, providing Smethwick Galton Bridge with 2tph to both Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street.

References

1. "Station usage - : Office of Rail Regulation".
2. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 71
3. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 68 & 75

External links

• Train times and station information for Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station from National Rail
• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Smethwick Galton Bridge station

Coordinates: 52°30′08″N 1°58′49″W / 52.50222°N 1.98028°W