The line was double track as far as Malvern at first, but was later doubled throughout except for the two tunnels. The line was conceived chiefly as a through railway for passenger and goods trains; the local traffic remained thin.
The line remained a secondary main line, and is in operation today.
Conception
The Worcester and Hereford Railway
The London and North Western Railway decided to promote a narrow (standard) gauge Worcester and Hereford Railway in the 1852 session of Parliament. It had allies in the Midland Railway and also the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway, and hoped to reach the rich mineral deposits of South Wales by running over those railways. Its Bill was rejected in the Lords in 1852, but it returned with a revised route in 1853. The Broad Gauge interest promoted a different line joining the two cities, intending to keep the LNWR and its friends out of South Wales.
The narrow gauge line was successful, and its Act was passed on 15 August 1853;[note 1][1] authorised capital was £750,000.[2][3] The broad gauge line was thrown out; but at the time Parliament was suspicious of large groupings of railways in the hands of one dominant company, and it struck out all the clauses in the Bill giving powers of subscribing for shares, or for working arrangements, by the LNWR or the Midland Railway.
The Worcester and Hereford Railway was therefore authorised, but left on its own, and it found itself unable to raise capital to build its line. A return to Parliament in the 1855 in an attempt to have the assistance clauses reinstated was also rejected. This left the W&HR in a state of stagnation.[2]
After a year or more the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway took up the cause of the W&HR, encouraged by directors of the NA&HR who had become also members of the Worcester and Hereford Railway board, and later the Midland Railway joined in the group of potential suppliers of funds. An application for the necessary powers was made in the 1858 session, and by now Parliament had softened its position, and the Bill was passed.
Construction could now be started and a double line was in the process of being constructed from Worcester to Malvern, and a single line from there to Shelwick Junction, where the line would join the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway a few miles north of Hereford. At Worcester there was to be a triangular junction. A triangular junction had been authorised at Shelwick also, but this was never made.[4][5]
Opening
Ledbury station
The line was opened in stages. The first section was from Henwick (at Worcester but on the west side of the River Severn) to Malvern Link was opened on 25 July 1859. The line was worked by the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway company, although the line was not as yet physically connected to it.
The bridge over the River Severn at Worcester remained to be completed. When it was presented to the Board of Trade inspecting officer, he declined to sanction its use for passenger trains as the slender arches had too great a deflection. The bridge spans were stiffened and the line between Tunnel Junction, at the north apex of the triangular junction with the OW&WR at Worcester, and Henwick opened to traffic on 17 May 1860; trains reversed at Tunnel Junction to get access to and from Shrub Hill station. On 24 May the other end of the line was extended from Malvern Link to Malvern Wells. The west-to-south part of the Worcester triangle was opened to traffic on 25 July 1860.[6][7]
There were two tunnels, between Malvern and Colwall (1567 yards) and at Ledbury (1323 yards); the Malvern tunnel was particularly difficult due to the rock being exceptionally hard.[8][3]
It was decided not to blast the rock in the Malvern tunnel, as the engineer was bringing down from London, a novel contrivance in a tunnelling machine of extraordinary power, driven by steam, which had been intended for use in the siege operations before Sebastopol, now rendered unnecessary.[2]
The West Midland Railway
Great Malvern station
Friendly relations between the OW&WR and the NA&HR ripened into a proposed amalgamation, which would also purchase the Worcester and Hereford Company. A Bill for the purpose was introduced into the 1860 session of Parliament and eventually became enacted. The combined company was to be called the West Midland Railway. Worcester and Hereford shareholders were guaranteed 4% from the opening of their line, rising to 5% in the third year. The necessary Bill was passed, and the amalgamation took effect, and the West Midland Railway was created, on 1 July 1860.[note 2] At the same time the Worcester and Hereford Railway ceased to exist, its undertaking having been absorbed by the new company.[9][3][10]
West Midland Railway amalgamated with the GWR
Relations between the Great Western Railway and the West Midland Railway were not especially harmonious, and it came as a shock to many when in 1861 it was announced that they had settled their differences and were to be amalgamated. An amalgamation act would be needed but in the meantime the companies would act as far as legally possible as a single system. The Act came into effect on 1 August 1863.[11][10]
Completion of the Worcester and Hereford Railway
Worcester Foregate Street station
Finishing the Malvern Tunnel was the key to opening the rest of the Worcester and Hereford line. The opening took place on 15 September 1861. It had the effect of physically connecting the two parts of the West Midland Railway: the former OW&WR and the former NA&HR. It also provided a new through narrow (standard) gauge route between London and South Wales; this was important as most of the collieries in South Wales were on narrow gauge lines there, and transhipment of coal had been a major deterrent in conveying coal to London and Southampton over the GWR and its partners. At the same time the LNWR gained access over the line to South Wales.[12][7]
Double track
The line was built with single track from Malvern Wells to Shelwick Junction. Double track was provided in that section, except in the two long tunnels, by 1885.[13]
Midland Railway
John Speller writes:
The Midland Railway had running powers over the Worcester & Hereford line via the Stoke Works Branch and the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton line from Droitwich Spa to Worcester, making the route part of the Midland Railway's route line from Birmingham to Swansea. At Malvern Wells Sidings, between Great Malvern and Malvern Wells, the Midland Railway had a turntable and water tank for servicing their line to Ashchurch. After 1923 the LMS used the LNWR route to Swansea, and the Midland Railway's running powers were not much exercised.[14]
Colwall tunnel
Doorway at Great Malvern station
Colwall Tunnel, west of Malvern, was geologically difficult, and maintenance problems with it resulted in its being replaced in August 1926 by a new single line tunnel alongside on a slightly easier gradient of 1 in 90 (the old tunnel being 1 in 80).[7][15]
Rainbow Hill Junction and Henwick
Rainbow Hill Junction was at the western apex of the Worcester triangle. In November 1973[16] the signal box and junction trackwork were abolished, and the line to Henwick station worked as two single lines, combining into a double line west of Henwick.[7]
Singling
In October 1967 the double-track section between the two tunnels was singled, and Colwall and Ledbury North End signal boxes closed, leaving an uninterrupted single line section between Malvern Wells and Ledbury.[17]
The line between Ledbury and Shelwick Junction was then singled in 1984, with Stoke Edith and Shelwick Junction signal boxes closed and control of the junction at Shelwick transferred to Hereford. A passing loop through Ledbury station remains.
Passenger train services
The 1895 Bradshaw shows six daily stopping trains, supplemented by three running from Worcester to Gloucester via Ledbury. There were three daily North and West Expresses, generally with through coaches from Manchester, Liverpool and Birkenhead to Bristol and Cardiff.[18]
By 1922 the stopping train service was similar, although more of the stopping trains terminated at Malvern. There were several semi-fast services, and Birmingham was the dominant focus, with two London to Hereford trains.
In 1938 the local service was broadly similar, but with several additional journeys from Worcester to Malvern, shown as third class only, suggesting they were auto-trains.
In 1960 there were substantially fewer stopping trains although auto-trains to Colwall were still evident. There were several semi-fast Birmingham to Cardiff trains, and the London to Hereford services had increased considerably, with many fewer Birmingham to Hereford trains on the route.[19] The through Cardiff trains were withdrawn in 1969 when BR standardised its Birmingham-Cardiff services to use the shorter route via Gloucester.
By the late 1970s, there were relatively few through Birmingham trains, with the majority of those calling at most stations north of Stourbridge and very few using the direct Droitwich loop line between Worcester Foregate Street and Tunnel Junction, all of which made most end-to-end journey times very uncompetitive. Apart from these and the remaining through London trains, most services on the line ran just between Worcester Shrub Hill and Hereford, calling at all stations.[20]
Despite the singling of the Cotswold Line in 1971, three through peak-hour London-Hereford trains continued to run in each direction until almost the end of the decade, when BR had to limit the number of loco-hauled Cotswold Line trains, after which only the two through peak trains each way survived. But in the 1980s a third, named the "Cotswold and Malvern Express" was added to/from Great Malvern, giving the line its first regular HST working.
Until 1982, through Birmingham trains had mostly used the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line, with typically just one peak hour train to/from Great Malvern using the more direct Birmingham to Worcester via Bromsgrove Line. Then an hourly Birmingham-Hereford service was introduced via the latter. In the mid 1980s this was also diverted via Kidderminster to address congestion caused by Bromsgrove then only having a single platform, but after a second one was opened in 1990 these trains reverted to the Bromsgrove route and have since become very successful.
The present day
The line continues in use as a secondary main line, with London to Hereford trains as well as local trains using Birmingham as their focus. Freight traffic is light.
Gradients
The summit of the line is at Colwall; from the north-east it is approached by an eight-mile climb of 1 in 120 to 1 in 80 from Leominster Junction; from the west there is a five-mile climb at 1 in 80 leading to it. The line from Ledbury to Shelwick Junction is undulating.
Location list
Worcester Shrub Hill; opened 5 October 1850; still open;
Tunnel Junction and Shrub Hill Junction; triangular junctions on OW&WR main line;
Rainbow Hill Junction;
Worcester Foregate Street; opened 17 May 1860; still open;
Henwick; opened 25 July 1859; closed 5 April 1965;
Boughton Halt; opened 31 March 1924; closed 5 April 1965;
Rushwick Halt; opened 31 March 1924; closed 5 April 1965;
Leominster Junction; divergence of Bromyard branch 1874 - 1964;
Bransford Road; opened 1 September 1860; closed 5 April 1965;
Newland Halt; opened 18 March 1929; closed 5 April 1965;
Malvern Link; opened 25 July 1859; still open;
Great Malvern; opened 25 May 1860; still open;
Malvern & Tewkesbury Junction; divergence of Tewkesbury line 1862 - 1952;
Malvern Wells; opened 25 May 1860; closed 19 January 1861; reopened 1 February 1864; closed 5 April 1965;
Colwall; opened 13 September 1861; still open;
Ledbury; opened 13 September 1861; still open; divergence of Dymock line 1885 - 1959;
Ashperton; opened 13 September 1861; closed 5 April 1965;
Stoke Edith; opened 13 September 1861; closed 5 April 1965;
Withington; opened 13 September 1861; closed 2 January 1961;
Shelwick Junction; convergence with Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway.[21]
The Cotswold Line is an 861⁄2-mile (139.2 km) railway line between Oxford and Hereford in England.
The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway (B&GR) was the first name of the railway linking the cities in its name and of the company which pioneered and developed it; the line opened in stages in 1840, using a terminus at Camp Hill in Birmingham. It linked with the Bristol and Gloucester Railway in Gloucester, but at first that company's line was broad gauge, and Gloucester was a point of the necessary but inconvenient transhipment of goods and passengers onto 4 ft 81⁄2 in gauge that became the national standard. Nearly all of the original main line remains active as a "trunk" route, also known as an arterial route or line.
The Varsity Line was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway.
The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was authorised in 1846. It agreed to joint construction with others of the costly Wolverhampton to Birmingham section, the so-called Stour Valley Line. This work was dominated by the hostile London and North Western Railway, which used underhand and coercive tactics. The section between Shrewsbury and Wellington was also built jointly, in this case with the Shropshire Union Railway.
Ledbury railway station is a railway station on the outskirts of the town of Ledbury on the Worcester to Hereford line in the English Midlands. It has regular services to Birmingham plus several direct trains a day to London Paddington.
Colwall railway station is a railway station on the Cotswold Line serving the village of Colwall in Herefordshire, England. The station has one platform with seating. There is no ticket office; a passenger-operated Permit to Travel machine is installed, and there has been a ticket machine since 2015.
Worcester Foregate Street railway station, opened by the Great Western Railway in 1860 in the centre of Worcester, England, is the smaller of the two stations serving the city, but more centrally located. The other station, Worcester Shrub Hill, is to the east. A third station, Worcestershire Parkway, is located just outside the city to the south-east.
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot Junction near Oxford to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley and Wolverhampton, as well as some branches.
The Tenbury and Bewdley Railway was an English railway company that built its line from Bewdley in Worcestershire to Tenbury station, which was in Shropshire. The line connected the Severn Valley Railway at Bewdley with the Tenbury Railway at Tenbury. The Tenbury Railway connected at Woofferton with the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway main line. Two railways were sometimes referred to as the Wyre Forest line or simply the Tenbury Line.
Hereford has seen a history of expansion and decline in its railway history.
Malvern Wells railway station was a station on the Worcester and Hereford section of the Great Western Railway at Lower Wyche, between Great Malvern and Colwall. On timetables it was listed as Malvern Wells GW to distinguish it from the nearby Midland Railway station which later became known as Malvern Hanley Road.
The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an English railway company that built a standard gauge line between those places. It opened its main line in 1853.
The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway (B&CDR) was a railway company through the Cotswolds in England that built a line between points near Banbury and Cheltenham. Its principal objective, as well as a general rural rail service, was the conveyance of iron ore from the East Midlands to South Wales.
The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway company formed to connect the places in its name. When it sought Parliamentary authorisation, it was denied the southern section, and obliged to use the Monmouthshire Railway between Pontypool and Newport.
The Colwall Tunnels are a pair of railway tunnels that connect Colwall and Malvern Wells on the Cotswold Line, passing under the Malvern Hills in the Welsh Marches region of England.
Ledbury Tunnel is a single-track railway tunnel immediately to the east of Ledbury railway station on the Cotswold Line, in Herefordshire, England.
The Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway was an English railway line promoted by the Great Western Railway to gain a route from its southern base towards the industrial centres of the West Midlands, and in due course the north-west. It overtook another GWR subsidiary, the unbuilt Oxford and Rugby Railway, and the Birmingham Extension Railway which was to build a new independent station in the city. It was authorised in 1846 and formed a single project to connect Birmingham and Oxford.
Ledbury Signal Box is a typical Great Western Railway traditional lever frame signal box which remains in daily use at Ledbury Station, Herefordshire, England on the railway line from Worcester to Hereford.
The Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway was an English railway company promoted to connect those places by rail. It was authorised by Parliament in 1846. It became apparent that it would be advantageous to merge with the Great Western Railway. The rival London and North Western Railway went to great lengths to frustrate the amalgamation, but ultimately failed, and the merger took place in 1847.
The Stratford on Avon Railway was a branch railway line opened in 1860, to connect the town to the Great Western Railway main line at Hatton, in England. It was worked by the GWR. In 1861 it was connected through Stratford on Avon to a branch line from Honeybourne, and this later enabled the development of a through mineral traffic. The company was absorbed by the GWR in 1883.
References
↑ Donald J Grant, Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain, Matador Publishers, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, ISBN978 1785893 537, pages 625 and 626
1 2 3 Herbert Rake, The Worcester and Hereford Railway, in the Railway Magazine, May 1908
1 2 3 Ernest F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959, page 241
↑ E T MacDermot, History of the Great Western Railway, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1927, volume 1, pages 537 to 542
1 2 3 4 Rex Christiansen, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 13: Thames and Severn, David and Charles (Publishers) Limited, Newton Abbot, 1981, ISBN0 7153 8004 4, page 94
↑ Bradshaw’s Rail Times for Great Britain and Ireland: December 1895, reprint, Middleton Press, Midhurst, 2018, ISBN978 1 908174 11 6
↑ British Railways Western Region Public Timetable, Summer 1960
↑ Various BR published timetables from 1968 onwards
↑ Col M H Cobb, The Railways of Great Britain: A Historical Atlas, Ian Allan Limited, Shepperton, 2002, ISBN
↑ R A Cooke, Atlas of the Great Western Railway as at 1947, Wild Swan Publications, Didcot, 1997, ISBN1 874103 38 0
↑ Michael Quick, Railway Passenger Stations in England, Scotland and Wales: A Chronology, the Railway and Canal Historical Society, Richmond, Surrey, 2002
Further reading
Gordon Wood, Constructing the Worcester and Hereford Railway, published by Gordon Wood, 2011
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