The south end of the VLRNIC building taken from the Castle Hill (A459) road bridge over the trackbed. The workshop shed is on the right and the start of the test track is in the foreground. All photos taken on October 27 unless stated.
DUDLEY was once a hive of railway activity in the West Midlands, with its ex-GWR lines to Stourbridge Junction, Old Hill, Wolverhampton Low Level and Birmingham Snow Hill, plus the ex-South Staffordshire Railway (LMS) line to Walsall and Lichfield. It was essentially two stations in one, with these two ‘Big Four’ companies (and their predecessors) each having an island platform with its own booking office at footbridge level.
Despite being well used, passenger services were gradually withdrawn in the early-1960s until the station closed on July 6, 1964. However, the ex-SSR/GWR route from Walsall to Stourbridge via Dudley remained open for freight, and one of the country’s first Freightliner terminals was opened on the site of the station in November 1967. The terminal was used until 1989, then the freight line was closed as a through route in 1993 – meaning Dudley was no longer on the railway map.
Much of the site remained undeveloped until the late-2010s, when two separate rail schemes were announced. Firstly, West Midlands Metro announced it would reuse much of the SSR trackbed to extend its tram network from Wednesbury to Dudley and then, after a street-running diversion through the town centre, it would continue south along the ex-GWR trackbed from Dudley to finish with street running again in Brierley Hill. Vegetation clearance of the route began in 2017, with trams to Dudley set to start running in 2023.