Walsall set to benefit from rail electrification scheme.

Above: The left unelectrified line at Walsall station whilst the right is the electrified part from Birmingham that stops under the Saddlers shopping centre.

 

Walsall for many years now have had an electrified route between the town and Birmingham New Street. However, as the line north of the town towards Rugeley recently re-opened to passenger use in the early 1990's, that has not had any sort of electrification-until the upcoming future.

Announced in July 2012 as part of a £9 billion railway announcement, the Chase Line which runs between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley, has been granted £30 million funding to electrify this part of the line between the latter and Birmingham New Street. The 16 mile stretch will have the work begin to electrify the line between 2014-2019, and has a wide range of benefits for the town.

• Currently the line has been going through a speed upgrade from 45mph to 75mph.
• The level crossing at Bloxwich will close so trains can go through that section quicker.
• It was announced as part of the scheme that future services could include a through service to Liverpool Lime Street, allowing Walsall, Bloxwich and Bloxwich North to have more connections to more destinations.
• Faster services to and from stations; 4 car trains could be implemented onto the line in the future.

Currently, diesel trains are only permitted to use the line north of Walsall, but as the electrification scheme will go ahead, this would allow faster services and potentially used as a diversion for trains needing to get to/from Birmingham that can not use the Wolverhampton line to/from Stafford. Not only this but more seats can be used on the line and hopefully it will attract more passengers to use the trains instead of cars in the near future.

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