History of the route
The South Staffordshire Railway line between Lichfield and Charrington’s Oil Terminal has a long and rich history dating back to the mid-19th century. Opened to traffic in 1849, the line formed part of the South Staffordshire Railway network, providing vital passenger and freight connections between Lichfield, Walsall, Dudley, and the wider Black Country industrial areas. It played a key role in supporting the region’s economic growth during the Industrial Revolution, transporting coal, iron, and manufactured goods, as well as providing commuter access between emerging industrial towns.
Regular passenger services were withdrawn in 1965 as part of the national railway rationalisation known as the Beeching cuts, which aimed to reduce unprofitable routes across the UK rail network. The line continued to operate as a freight route for several decades, primarily serving local industry. Its final years of use centred around Charrington’s Oil Terminal, with trains transporting petroleum products until the late 1990s. The line was closed to all traffic in 2001, although the track and infrastructure have remained under the ownership and maintenance of Network Rail.