Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line Birmingham loop
A London Northwestern RailwayClass 350 atBerkswell, April 2025
Overview
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	West Midlands (region) Warwickshire West Midlands Wolverhampton Staffordshire
Termini	Rugby Stafford
Stations	21
History
Opened	1854 (complete route)
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge
Route map (Click to expand)

v t e Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line
West Coast Main Line Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway Stafford to Wellington line Stafford West Coast Main Line (Trent Valley line) Penkridge Littleton Colliery Gailey Four Ashes Bushbury Wolverhampton– Shrewsbury line Walsall–Wolverhampton line Victoria Basin Wolverhampton (High Level) Wolverhampton Low Level Wolverhampton & Walsall Rly Walsall–Wolverhampton line Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level Line Wolverhampton Steel Terminal Chillington Wharf West Midlands Metro Monmore Green Ettingshall Road Deepfields and Coseley (1852–1902) Coseley Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway Princes End branch line Tipton South Staffordshire line Dudley Port Albion Sandwell & Dudley Spon Lane Smethwick Galton Bridge Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line Smethwick Rolfe Street Soho Chase Line Soho EMU Depot Winson Green Harborne branch line Monument Lane Cross Country Route / Cross-City Line Birmingham New Street Chiltern Main Line Curzon Street Cross-City Line /Chase Line Camp Hill line Birmingham–Peterborough line andCross Country Route Adderley Park toAston Stechford Lea Hall Marston Green Birmingham International Stonebridge Railway Hampton-in-Arden Berkswell Berkswell Loop Tile Hill Canley Coventry to Nuneaton line Coventry Coventry–Leamington line Coventry Loop Line Brandon and Wolston West Coast Main Line (Trent Valley line) Leamington–Rugby line Midland Counties Railway Rugby Rugby and Stamford Railway Great Central Main Line Northampton loop West Coast Main Line

TheRugby–Birmingham–Stafford line (also known as theBirmingham loop^[1]) is arailway line in theWest Midlands ofEngland. It is aloop off theWest Coast Main Line (WCML) betweenRugby andStafford, via theWest Midlands cities ofCoventry,Birmingham andWolverhampton. The direct route between Rugby and Stafford is theTrent Valley line.

v t e Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line
Legend
and other local routes
toCrewe Stafford toStoke-on-Trent Penkridge Colwich Junction Colwich toShrewsbury Rugeley Trent Valley Wolverhampton Walsall Coseley Tipton Armitage Dudley Port Sandwell & Dudley toBurton upon Trent Smethwick Galton Bridge Lichfield Trent Valley Smethwick Rolfe Street toBromsgrove &Redditch Birmingham New Street Aston Adderley Park toBurton upon Trent Water Orton Tamworth Stechford Lea Hall Polesworth Marston Green Atherstone Birmingham International Hampton-in-Arden Nuneaton Berkswell Tile Hill toLeicester Canley Bedworth Bulkington Coventry Shilton Brinklow toLeamington Spa Rugby toNorthampton toLondon Euston
Key
West Coast Main Line Birmingham Loop Line freight and diversionary lines other lines

These cities, towns and villages are served by the line:

• Stafford
• Penkridge
• Wolverhampton
• Coseley
• Tipton
• Dudley Port High Level – proposed interchange for theWest Midlands Metro
• Sandwell
• Smethwick
• Birmingham
• Adderley Park (servingSaltley)
• Stechford
• Lea Hall
• Marston Green
• Birmingham International – forNational Exhibition Centre andBirmingham Airport
• Hampton-in-Arden
• Berkswell
• Tile Hill
• Canley
• Coventry
• Rugby

A mixture of intercity, regional, cross-country and local services operate over all or parts of the route.Avanti West Coast,CrossCountry,Transport for Wales andWest Midlands Trains all operate services.

• Avanti West Coast uses the route as part of their intercity service betweenLondon Euston andBirmingham New Street, some services are also extended to/fromWolverhampton,Preston,Chester orScotland.
• West Midlands Trains also operate London-Birmingham regional trains over the route, all operating viaNorthampton. They also operate a Birmingham-Liverpool Lime Street service over the route and operate local services between Birmingham, Wolverhampton andShrewsbury.
• Transport for Wales operate regional services between Birmingham International and various destinations in Wales via Shrewsbury.
• CrossCountry use part of the route for their service fromManchester Piccadilly to destinations in the south of England. Many trains on this route run via Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Coventry, turning offtowards Leamington Spa.

The line was built in three parts, between 1837 and 1854:

• The line from Rugby to Birmingham via Coventry was opened as part of theLondon and Birmingham Railway, in1838, and originally ran into its terminus atBirmingham Curzon Street.
• TheGrand Junction Railway opened its line in 1837, linking Birmingham to Wolverhampton, Stafford, and theLiverpool and Manchester Railway. However, this line ran viaPerry Barr to Wolverhampton (see map). The GJR originally ran to a temporary terminus atVauxhall until a 28-spanviaduct over theRiver Rea valley had been completed in 1839, allowing it to reach Curzon Street.^[2] The London and Birmingham, and Grand Junction railways merged in 1846 to form theLondon and North Western Railway (LNWR). Soon after, work started on building a new, more centrally located station in Birmingham, which became known asBirmingham New Street station, which opened formally in 1854.
• On 1 July 1852, theStour Valley Line from Wolverhampton to Birmingham on a more southerly route via Tipton and Smethwick opened. It started at Bushbury, just north of Wolverhampton where it joined the Grand Junction Railway, and ran to Birmingham New Street. Its route included the currentWolverhampton station. It was promoted by theBirmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway, which was soon absorbed by the LNWR.^[3][4]

The LNWR itself became part of theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, and part ofBritish Railways duringNationalisation in 1948.

The line waselectrified along with the rest of the WCML during the late 1960s in the wake of the BR1955 Modernisation Plan.

In 1987, British Rail commissioned artistKevin Atherton to produce a series of sculptures to be erected along the line between Birmingham New Street station and Wolverhampton. The finished piece was titledIron Horse, and consists of twelve different horse silhouettes, fashioned fromsteel. The construction material was chosen for its historic associations with theBlack Country.^[5][6]

Many of the smaller stations on the line were closed in the 1950s and 60s, especially between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. However, some new stations were opened in the late 20th century:Birmingham International station was opened in 1976 to serveBirmingham Airport and theNational Exhibition Centre, and in 1995 another new station;Smethwick Galton Bridge was opened, serving as a two-level interchange with trains on theBirmingham Snow Hill to Worcester Line.^[7]

There were also three services a day toWalsall, until a timetable change in May 2019 saw it removed and replaced by two morning services per day toShrewsbury.

• 1967 –Stechford rail crash; 9 killed, 16 injured.

Despite the heavy traffic carried by the line, it is onlydouble track throughout, and heavily congested, especially between Coventry and Birmingham. In the 1930s, theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) started work onquadrupling the line between Coventry and Birmingham, however only preparatory work was carried out before the scheme was cancelled due to the outbreak ofWorld War II.^[8] Periodic calls have been made since to quadruple the line between Coventry and Birmingham to ease congestion.^[9]

The line iselectrified with overhead wires at25 kV AC.

In 2023,Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and theWest Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) put forward plans to open a new station atBinley on the line between Coventry and Rugby namedCoventry East (Binley), serving the eastern part of Coventry.^[10]

• Jowetts Railways Centres Volume 1, Alan Jowett (PSL, 1993)
• A Century of Railways Around Birmingham and the West Midlands, Volumes 1, 2 & 3, John Boynton (Mid England Books, 1997–1999)
• Rail Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland, S K Baker (OPC, 2004)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line.

• Railway lines in the West Midlands (region)
• Rail transport in Birmingham, West Midlands
• Rail transport in Coventry
• Rail transport in Warwickshire
• Rail transport in Wolverhampton
• Rail transport in Staffordshire
• Rail transport in the West Midlands (county)
• Railway lines opened in 1837
• Airport rail links in the United Kingdom
• 1837 establishments in England

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles using KML from Wikidata