The South Staffordshire Railway (SSR) was authorised in 1847 to build a line from Dudley in the West Midlands of England through Walsall and Lichfield to a junction with the Midland Railway on the way to Burton upon Trent, with authorised share capital of £945,000. It was supported by the newly-formed London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and the Midland Railway, giving each company access to important areas. It completed its main line in 1849. As collieries in the Cannock region rose in importance, it built a second main line from Walsall to Rugeley, as well as numerous short spurs and connections to lines it intersected. Colliery working in the Cannock area expanded enormously, and mineral traffic carryings increased in step.
In 1850 the entire company's operation was leased to a private individual, John Robinson McClean, the first time this was ever done. His lease was successful, but the London and North Western Railway wanted control of the network for its own strategic purposes, and it manoeuvred to get the SSR shareholders to transfer the lease to the LNWR; in 1867 the LNWR acquired ownership of the SSR.
Short distance passenger operation in the Walsall area was always buoyant, but in the post-1945 period a decline set in, and industrial retrenchment resulted in a gradual loss of goods and mineral business too. In 1965 a major round of passenger service closures was imposed, although the cessation of services on the Hednesford and Rugeley section was reversed from 1989. This Walsall to Rugeley service and a very short section at Lichfield are the only remaining passenger operations on the former SSR system
Early railways in Birmingham
Birmingham and the surrounding area acquired the epithet The Workshop of the World, supporting a huge range of diverse manufacturing industries. As the requirements of industrial customers became more advanced, it became a feature of Birmingham industry was that one manufacturer would make the basic part of a product, and for that piece to be transferred to another manufacturer for finishing. This resulted in a very large number of increasingly specialised makers, dependent on efficient local goods transport, over a widening local area.Ray Shill, Workshop of the World: Birmingham's Industrial Legacy, The History Press, Stroud, 2006 and 2013, , Chapter: Introduction (unpaginated ebook)
The first railways in Birmingham had their terminals on the then eastern margin of the city,The town of Birmingham was given city status in 1889. around the Curzon Street station of the Grand Junction Railway and the London and Birmingham Railway; the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway had a terminus at Lawley Street, a little further out.
In the earliest days this was acceptable; the hilly nature of the centre of Birmingham would have been difficult for early railways to approach, and interchange, particularly between the L&BR and the GJR, were simplified by their proximity. As railway traffic developed, and it became clearer what the dominant traffic flows were, the limitations of this configuration became important, and led to a number of proposed changes.
The earliest railways generally limited themselves to connecting pairs or small groups of major centres, but soon the benefit of amalgamations became apparent, so that larger companies serving larger areas began to develop. This led to the formation of (among others) two large groups with significant presences in Birmingham:
the Midland Railway, formed on 10 May 1844, with a network from Leeds to Derby and Nottingham, and on to Rugby,Christopher Awdry, Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies, Patrick Stephens Limited, Wellingborough, 1990, , page 93 and by leases to Gloucester and Bristol in 1845; and the London and North Western Railway on 16 July 1846, connecting London, Manchester and Liverpool.
In August 1845, the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was obtaining authorisation to build its line. This was a competitive threat to the established railways, but serious financial problems delayed the progress of the OW&WR. Eventually it became aligned with the Great Western Railway (GWR), but that remained in the future for the time being.
As well as these organisational changes, practical difficulties were becoming important in handling traffic that did not start or end its journey in Birmingham, and the Curzon Street stations became a difficult obstruction to such traffic. The formation of the LNWR eliminated a competitive tension that had existed (between the London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway); at the same time the LNWR and the Midland Railway did not see themselves as direct competitors, so that a collaborative approach now seemed possible.
The core network Authorisation: Dudley, Walsall and northwards
Walsall and Dudley were important manufacturing towns, and it was to be expected that a railway connection between them would be put forward. The South Staffordshire Junction Railway was proposed to connect the two towns, with junction connections to the Grand Junction Railway, now to be part of the LNWR. The SSJR got its authorising act of Parliament, the (9 & 10 Vict. c. ccc) on 3 August 1846, with permitted share capital of £525,000.Donald J Grant, Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain, Matador, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, , page 525E F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959, page 121
At the same time, another company, the Trent Valley, Midlands and Grand Junction Railway was authorised. It was to make a line from Walsall northwards through Lichfield to join the Midland Railway main line (heading towards Burton-on-Trent) at Wichnor. It too was authorised on 3 August 1846, by the (9 & 10 Vict. c. cccxvi), with capital of £420,000.
The two companies had been in discussion and saw there were advantages in combining, and this was allowed for in their respective acts of Parliament. Final agreement for this was accomplished on 6 October, ratified by an act of Parliament, the (10 & 11 Vict. c. clxxxix), of 9 July 1847. The 1847 act also confirmed a change of name for the combined company, which was to be called the South Staffordshire Railway; the combined share capital was fixed at £945,000; in addition the act granted running powers over the Midland Railway from Wichnor Junction to Burton.
First construction: Walsall to Bescot Although the act of Parliament authorised the share capital, the company had to obtain the share subscriptions, as well as acquire the necessary land. The board decided on a modest start to construction, by building from Walsall to Bescot on the former Grand Junction Railway route.
This was quickly accomplished, and the line was opened on 1 November 1847; temporary station premises were used at Walsall, south of Bridgeman Place, and the line connected to a junction on the GJR main line, called Bescot Junction.
It is probable that the first trains were operated by the LNWR using their own rolling stock. There was no station at the junction. Prior to the opening of the Walsall line, there had been a station further north-west on the GJR line called "Walsall". It was now renamed Bescot Bridge, and it was used for journeys from Wolverhampton and further north to Walsall, by changing there to road transport.
Walsall to Wichnor
Of the main line sections originally authorised, there now remained the connection from Walsall to Wichnor Junction, joining the northward Midland Railway main line on the way to Burton: the length of this section was 17 miles. A construction contract was allocated on 17 May 1847. The work proceeded well enough, and on 1 March 1849 Captain Wynne of the Board of Trade inspected the line for passenger working. While much of the line was satisfactory, the junction connecting to the Midland Railway at Wichnor had not been installed. Wynne approved the line for passenger operation between Walsall and Lichfield, a distance of miles. The company did not open that section at once, but waited until the remainder of the Wichnor route was ready. Wynne inspected the remainder of the line on 4 April 1849 and approved it, and it opened on 9 April 1849.
However says:
The date is often given as 9th April, but all that happened then was the running of a special for Directors, followed by a celebratory lunch at the George Hotel, Lichfield, attended by the mayor of the city and the High Sheriff of Staffordshire. Passenger services for ordinary mortals had to wait until 1st June. That day saw the opening of a permanent station at Walsall, on the present site... A South Staffs station at Lichfield Trent Valley opened in August, eleven months after one on the main Trent Valley line below. The Midland had running rights to Walsall and the LNWR had running rights through Wichnor Junction to Burton and Derby, capital of the Midland system.
The temporary Walsall station was closed and the new permanent station, described by a newspaper as "splendid" was put into use.
South to Dudley Now the company extended its line southwards to Dudley, from a new junction off the Walsall to Bescot line, a distance of five miles. However the section of line presented to the Board of Trade inspecting officer for approval for passenger operation was not approved. Goods traffic (not needing that approval) started on 1 March 1850. On 1 May 1850 the line to Dudley was fully opened, the deficiencies having been rectified. This opening included an east-to-south spur enabling direct running from Bescot Junction to Dudley.
The first Dudley station was a terminus north-east of Tipton Road; for a time the SSR Was the only railway with a presence in Dudley. In 1852 the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway opened its line as far as Dudley, and the South Staffordshire Railway opened a new station adjacent to the OW&WR station, but not connected to it. The OW&WR continued northwards the following year. The configuration of the two stations was still unsatisfactory, and an improved station connected to the OW&WR line platforms was opened in 1859.
Branches and spur connections The core main line network of the SSR was thus completed. For some time it had been obvious that the original pattern of the earlier main lines was imperfect, and steps were taken to improve matters. In addition the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway was building its line, and the Great Western Railway too was taking steps to make a presence locally. The OW&WR and the GWR were later to align with one another under the GWR name, but for the time being they were far from friendly to one another. Moreover there was a rapid development in manufacturing industry in the area. There was a huge demand for transport of raw materials in and completed goods out, and factories were established in newly developed locations .
Interconnection between railways of diverse ownership was essential in this environment, and the SSR's position cutting across the grain of many main lines resulted in the construction of a number of junctions and spurs to enable transfer traffic.
Stour Valley line at Sedgeley The Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway was opened in 1852. Usually referred to as the Stour Valley Line, it was an affiliate of the LNWR providing a more satisfactory route between Birmingham and Wolverhampton for that company. A new central station was being constructed in Birmingham, and as New Street station it opened fully in 1854.