Smethwick Rolfe Street is one of two railway stations serving the town of Smethwick, West Midlands, England. It is situated on the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line 3¼ miles (5 km) north west of Birmingham New Street. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by West Midlands Railway. The other station serving Smethwick is Smethwick Galton Bridge, which is the next stop up the line.
Smethwick Rolfe Street | |
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General information | |
Location | Smethwick, Sandwell England |
Coordinates | 52.496°N 1.971°W / 52.496; -1.971 |
Grid reference | SP021887 |
Managed by | West Midlands Railway |
Transit authority | Transport for West Midlands |
Platforms | 2 |
Other information | |
Station code | SMR |
Fare zone | 2 |
Classification | DfT category E |
History | |
Opened | 1852 |
Passengers | |
2016/17 | 0.504 million |
2017/18 | 0.528 million |
2018/19 | 0.625 million |
2019/20 | 0.638 million |
2020/21 | 0.143 million |
Location | |
Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
The station was opened in July 1852[1] by the Birmingham, Wolverhampton, & Stour Valley Railway Company (later absorbed by London and North Western Railway) as part of the Stour Valley Line from Birmingham to Wolverhampton. It was rebuilt in its present form in 1890[1] when two level crossings in the centre of Smethwick were abolished. Drawings of the rebuilt station can be found on the Smethwick Rolfe Street Station gallery page of the Network Rail Corporate Archive.
In 1985, pupils from Parkside Junior School created a mural for Platform 1 under the direction of artist Jeremy Waygood as part of the Birmingham to Wolverhampton Corridor Initiative.[2]
In June 2017, this mural was removed and replaced by one created by students from Sandwell College under the direction of artist Steve Field. In addition, an exhibition room was created by another set of students from the college to display the history of the station and of the murals.[3] In October 2017 this work was recognised in the ACoRP Community Rail Awards with a 1st place for Involving Diverse Groups and a 3rd place for Community Art Schemes - Permanent.[4]
Work began in January 2022 to install lifts to allow step-free access to the station. The project is expected to be completed by July.[5]
The station is served by two trains per hour in each direction Mondays to Saturdays, by the local service between Wolverhampton, Birmingham New Street and Walsall via Aston.[6] On Sundays, the service runs hourly between New Street and Wolverhampton only.
These are usually operated by a mixture of Class 323 and Class 350s EMUs but occasional Class 170 DMUs are used.
Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, London Northwestern Railway and Transport for Wales Rail trains run through the station but do not stop. London Northwestern Railway and Transport for Wales call at the nearby station of Smethwick Galton Bridge en route to Holyhead or Aberystwyth.[7]
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
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Birmingham New Street | West Midlands Railway Walsall/Birmingham - Wolverhampton |
Smethwick Galton Bridge | ||
London Northwestern Railway Birmingham-Liverpool |
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Historical railways | ||||
Soho Line open, station closed |
London and North Western Railway & Great Western Railway | Smethwick West Line open, station closed |
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