Wolverhampton
The new station building, opened 2021, and tram.
General information
Location	Wolverhampton,City of Wolverhampton England
Coordinates	52°35′15″N2°07′12″W / 52.5875°N 2.1200°W /52.5875; -2.1200
Grid reference	SO919988
Managed by	West Midlands Railway[1]
Transit authority	Transport for West Midlands
Platforms	6
Other information
Station code	WVH
Fare zone	5
Classification	DfT category B
History
Original company	Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 July 1852	Opened asWolverhampton (Queen Street)
1 June 1885	RenamedWolverhampton (High Level)
1964-67	Redeveloped
7 May 1973	RenamedWolverhampton
2018-21	Redeveloped
17 September 2023	West Midlands Metro services started
Passengers
2019/20	5.123 million
Interchange	0.330 million
2020/21	0.995 million
Interchange	52,875
2021/22	3.453 million
Interchange	0.187 million
2022/23	4.446 million
Interchange	0.222 million
2023/24	4.771 million
Interchange	0.228 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail and Road

Wolverhampton station is a step-free access regional interchange railway station situated inWolverhampton,West Midlands, England on theBirmingham Loop of theWest Coast Main Line. The station is the fourth-busiest in the West Midlands region; it is served byAvanti West Coast,CrossCountry,Transport for Wales andWest Midlands Trains services, and was historically known asWolverhampton High Level. There is aWest Midlands Metro tram stop located outside the station, an elevated walkway towardsWolverhampton Bus Station and a 24/7 multi-storey car park adjacent to the station.

The first station namedWolverhampton opened on the edge of the town centre in 1837 on theGrand Junction Railway. This station was renamedWednesfield Heath in 1855, shortly after the present station was opened, and subsequently closed in 1873.^[2]

On 12 November 1849, theShrewsbury and Birmingham Railway opened atemporary terminus to its line at a location very close to the present station.^[3]

The present station site was opened on 1 July 1852 by theBirmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway, a subsidiary of theLondon and North Western Railway (LNWR); it was namedWolverhampton Queen Street.^[4] The only visible remnant of the original station is theQueen's Building, the gateway to Railway Drive, which was the approach road to the station. The building was originally the carriage entrance to the station and was completed three years before the main station building. Today, it forms part ofWolverhampton bus station.^[5]

Two years later, on 1 July 1854, theOxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OWWR) opened a second station, located behind the older station on lower ground, which became known as theWolverhampton Low Level station from April 1856, the other becoming known as Wolverhampton High Level from 1 June 1885.^[4]

From 1923, the LNWR was amalgamated into theLondon Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and in 1948 it became part of theLondon Midland Region ofBritish Railways.^[6]

Services over the former Grand Junction Railway line toWalsall (and thence toLichfield City andBurton-on-Trent) ended in January 1965, this route being the only one from here to fall victim to theBeeching Axe.

The since-replaced Wolverhampton station dated from 1964^[7] when the High Level station was completely rebuilt by the architectRay Moorcroft as part of a modernisation programme that saw theWest Coast Main Line electrified.^[5] It consisted of three through platforms (the present platforms 1, 2 and 3). As part of this scheme, most services on the OW&WR route fromShrewsbury were diverted here from Low Level (though a few peak-hour trains continued to serve the latter until March 1968); these then continued to Birmingham New Street via the Stour Valley line rather than via the ex-GWR line to Birmingham Snow Hill as before. In the 1980s, a parcels siding was converted into a south-facing bay platform (the present platform 5), and a new north-facing bay was constructed (the present platform 6).

In 1987 twelve different horse sculptures byKevin Atherton, titledIron Horse, were erected between New Street station and Wolverhampton, including one at the southern end of platforms 2 and 3.^[8]

More recently, in 2004, a new through platform (platform 4) was constructed on the site of infrequently used sidings. This has greatly enhanced the capacity of the station. A new footbridge was also constructed, to enable access to the new platform as well as improving access to the existing ones. A proposal for a more comprehensive redevelopment of the station and surrounding area was announced on 18 October 2006.^[9]

Work on the £150 million redevelopment of the station finally began in 2018 and was expected to be completed in 2020 and include an extension of theWest Midland Metro. However, COVID-19 requirements caused the work to be delayed. Demolition of the 1960s buildings began in May 2020, with the first part of the new station opening the same month.^[10] The new station building was fully opened in June 2021, a year later than originally planned.^[11] Its aluminium façade is in black and gold, the traditional colours ofWolverhampton Wanderers.^[12]

Despite the new station building, the platforms and structures from the 1960s station building remain largely untouched. As of 2025, there are no confirmed plans to refurbish those structures or to bring them into keeping with the new concourse.

Management of the station transferred fromVirgin Trains to theWest Midlands Trains franchise in April 2018.^[13]

The station is currently served by fourtrain operating companies, with general off-peak services as follows (in trains per hour/day):

Avanti West Coast^[14]

• 1 train per hour (tph) toLondon Euston, viaBirmingham New Street
• 1 train every 2 hours toEdinburgh, viaWigan North Western
• 1 train every 2 hours toGlasgow Central, via Wigan North Western

West Midlands Trains

London Northwestern Railway^[15]

• 2 tph to Birmingham New Street
• 2 tph toLiverpool Lime Street, viaStafford andCrewe

West Midlands Railway^[16]

• 2 tph toWalsall, via Birmingham New Street
• 2 tph to Birmingham New Street
• 2 tph toShrewsbury, viaTelford Central

CrossCountry^[17]

• 1 tph toBournemouth, via Birmingham New Street andCoventry
• 1 tph toBristol Temple Meads via Birmingham New Street andCheltenham Spa
• 2 tph toManchester Piccadilly, viaStoke-on-Trent

Transport for Wales Rail^[18][19]

• 1 tph toBirmingham International
• 1 tp2h toAberystwyth &Pwllheli, via Shrewsbury; the service divides atMachynlleth
• 1 tp2h toHolyhead.

Prior to the June 2024 timetable change, Avanti West Coast operated a daily direct service between Shrewsbury and London Euston.^[20][21][22]

West Midlands Railway also will run a directWolverhampton-Walsall service viaWillenhall andDarlaston, expected to start in Winter 2025/26.^[23][24]

v t e Wolverhampton Lines
Legend
toShrewsbury Codsall Bilbrook Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line toStafford Tettenhall Gailey Compton Four Ashes Penn Halt Bushbury Wombourne Wombourne Branch Line toStourbridge Dunstall Park Herbert Street Goods(GWR) Stafford Road Works Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Low Level Wolverhampton St George's The Royal Wednesfield Road Goods (MR) Wednesfield Heath Monmore Green Heath Town Wolverhampton Steel Terminal Wednesfield Portobello Ettingshall Road Willenhall Bilston Street Coseley Willenhall Stafford Street Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line toBirmingham New Street Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway toWalsall Priestfield (metro) Walsall–Wolverhampton line toWalsall Priestfield (rail) Bilston Central (metro) Bilston West Bilston Central (rail) Daisy Bank Loxdale Princes End and Coseley Bradley Lanebilston Oxford–Worcester– Wolverhampton Line toDudley Bradley and Moxley toEdgbaston Village viaWest Midlands Metro ( historically GWR )

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Stafford		CrossCountry South West – Manchester		Birmingham New Street
Penkridge towardsLiverpool Lime Street		London Northwestern Railway Birmingham–Liverpool		Coseley towardsBirmingham New Street
Telford Central		Transport for Wales North Wales Main Line		Sandwell & Dudley
		Transport for Wales Cambrian Line
Shifnal		West Midlands Railway Birmingham – Wolverhampton – Shrewsbury		Smethwick Galton Bridge
Bilbrook				Tame Bridge Parkway
Terminus		West Midlands Railway Wolverhampton – Birmingham – Walsall		Coseley
Stafford		Avanti West Coast West Coast Main Line		Sandwell & Dudley
	Future services
Terminus		West Midlands Railway Walsall–Wolverhampton line		Willenhall Bilston Street
	Disused railways
Terminus		Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway LaterMidland Railway		Heath Town

Wolverhampton station has six platforms: platforms 1 to 4 are through platforms, while platforms 5 and 6 are bay platforms at the south and north ends respectively. Although all four through platforms are reversible, in practice platform 1 is used for northbound services, platform 2 for northbound and southbound services, and platforms 3 and 4 are for southbound services. Platform 3 is also used for northbound services at busy times. Platform 5 is used by local services to Walsall viaBirmingham New Street. Platform 6 was designed for local services on theWolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line (and was formerly numbered Platform 4 but was renumbered upon the construction of the present Platform 4 in 2004) but is now rarely used, as the majority of services on that route travel through to Birmingham (or occasionally to Walsall). It is generally used for the first service of the day to Shrewsbury and for holding trains when they are not in use.

Platform 1 is mostly used for northbound services, however in the late evenings and on Sundays, there are still a few Avanti West Coast shuttle services that either terminate in platforms 1 or 2. These shuttle trains, usually travel to London Euston, via Birmingham New Street. The shuttle trains are usually of 9-car formation.

Platform 4 is now used for all Avanti West Coast services from Edinburgh/Glasgow to London Euston.

All platforms at the station areelectrified to 25 kV AC overhead power.^[25]

The railway station is earmarked for redevelopment as part of the Wolverhampton Interchange Project. Ion Developments (previously Neptune Developments) were selected for the project and plan to create a major mixed used area that includes both bus and railway stations, a hotel, retail outlets, bars, cafes and offices.

The plan is to completely rebuild the railway station and improve pedestrian access over the ring road, with a new footbridge link direct to the bus station. After a shortfall in funding for the project, it was decided that the development would take place in phases. Phase One began in April 2010 with the construction of the newbus station which was completed in 2011. Phase Two, which includes the railway station, canalside development, and a hotel, has commenced as of September 2018.

On 31 December 2014 the first phase of the redevelopment of the Railway Station was announced, with the redevelopment of the station's car park, it has seen the car park refurbished and extended to take the existing capacity from 520 to just over 900, along with a new entrance to the car park created from Mill Street, and also includes parking for bikes and motorbikes. It is also expected that a hotel will eventually be developed to change the facade of the car park.^[26]

From Sunday 8 January 2017, vehicular access to the railway station changed, with access now via Corn Hill. This change coincided with the opening of the extended car park. This has also created a new short stay and drop off area including a new taxi rank. The change has seen Railway Drive completely closed to enable the laying of tracks for the new Metro extension to commence and the rebuilding of the railway station.^[27]

On Friday 28 September 2018, work started on Wolverhampton's Railway Station, with the demolition on the Transport Police building.^[28] The new station building opened on 25 May 2020, completing the first phase of the redevelopment of the railway station. The following week the demolition of the old railway station building commenced, with the whole new building completed in June 2021.^[29][30]

On 29 July 2022, the Central England Co-operative opened a food branch at the station.

Wolverhampton Station
General information
Location	Railway Drive Wolverhampton England
System	West Midlands Metro tram stop
Line	Line 1 (Edgbaston Village – Wolverhampton St George's/Wolverhampton Station)
Platforms	1
History
Opened	17 September 2023 (2023-09-17)
Passengers
N/A

As part of the Interchange project,West Midlands Metro Line 1 was extended to the railway station with the addition of a new Metro stop. It was expected to be operational by 2020, however this was delayed until the stop opened on 17 September 2023.^[31]

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2009).Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury. Middleton Press. figs. 6–10.ISBN 9781906008444.OCLC 286385795.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWolverhampton railway station.

• Train times andstation information for Wolverhampton station fromNational Rail
• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Wolverhampton station
• Wolverhampton Interchange

• Railway stations in Wolverhampton
• Tram stops in Wolverhampton
• DfT Category B stations
• Former London and North Western Railway stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1852
• Railway stations served by CrossCountry
• Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail
• Railway stations served by Avanti West Coast
• Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains
• Stations on the West Coast Main Line
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2021

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use British English from December 2017
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Use dmy dates from October 2019
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Articles with OS grid coordinates
• Pages with no open date in Infobox station
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Pages using the Kartographer extension