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Redditch Railways Chronology

The following a chronology of the history of railways in Redditch

1830 Survey by Isambard Kingdom Brunel of the Redditch area as a possible route for the Birmingham and Gloucester
1845 Birmingham and Worcester Direct Railway with a branch from Scarfields in Alvechurch to Brockhill Lane in Redditch was surveyed by Richard Boddington
November 1857 Plans submitted for a railway from Barnt Green to Brockhill Lane in Redditch
July 1858 Redditch Railway Act gets Royal Assent
August 1858 The first sod is turned in the construction of the railway
September 19 1859 The first Redditch station opens for passengers
October 10 1859 Line opened for goods traffic and Alvechurch station is opened
November 1860 Plans are submitted for a new railway line from Redditch, Windsor Road to Honeybourne on the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
November 1862 The November 1860 plans were amended to serve Alcester and Evesham and a tunnel through Mount Pleasant at Redditch
July 1863 The Evesham and Redditch Railway Act receives Royal Assent.
July 1863 The powers of the Redditch Railway are transferred to the Midland Railway.
October 1863 The Redditch Railway settles their dispute with the construction contractor and the first divided is declared.
November 1863 Plans are submitted for a railway line between Henley in Arden and Studley. Eventually this scheme becomes the much less ambitious Henley in Arden Railway that opened in 1894 and closed in 1915
October 1864 The Midland Railway opened the line from Ashchurch and Evesham
March 1865 Last meeting of the Redditch Railway shareholders to ratify the takeover by the Midland Railway, which had taken place on January 1 1865.
May 4 1868 The Redditch and Evesham Railway is opened together with Redditch Station number two
July 1882 The Redditch and Evesham Railway is vested in the Midland Railway.
June 1886 The Redditch and Evesham Railway is finally dissolved.
April 1960 An experimental hourly DMU service is started from Birmingham New Street to Redditch
October 1 1962 The Evesham to Redditch section of railway line is closed to passengers on a temporary basis and substitute bus service is introduced. Goods traffic is retained at Studley and Alcester stations.
June 17 1963 The Evesham and Redditch railway line is formally closed to passengers
September 9 1963 The Evesham to Ashchurch railway line is closed completely.
April 1964 The hourly DMU service to Redditch was withdrawn
July 1964  Local goods services are withdrawn from Alvechurch, Redditch, Studley and Alcester Station. The siding at the latter is removed and the line between Redditch and Alcester is closed.
January 1965 The lifting of the track south of Redditch is complete.
August 9 1965 The Redditch branch from Barnt Green to Redditch survived the last attempt to close it
February 7 1972 The Redditch station was moved to north side of Bromsgrove Bridge into the former goods yard. This allowed the former station site to be cleared for the construction of the then new bus station as part of the Kingfisher Shopping Centre development.
May 1975 The £6.3 million Cross City rail line from Longbridge and Four Oaks via Birmingham New Street was sanctioned
January 5 1976 Construction of the Cross City rail line formally started at the site of the new University Station. University Station was to be the only station on the new line to be formally opened on the day services started in May 1978
May 8 1978 The Cross City rail line was launched with a 15 minute frequency between Longbridge and Four Oaks Stations via Birmingham New Street
January 1980 The Redditch and Alvechurch Rail Users Association was formed to campaign for an increase in the frequency of the train service to Redditch
May 1980 History repeated itself and following pressure by the Hereford and Worcester County Council, Redditch Borough Council and Redditch Development Corporation a new hourly experiment service to Redditch was introduced with the County Council off setting the losses.
February 7 1990 The Transport Minister Cecil Parkinson authorises the £64.5 million electrification of the Cross City line from Redditch to Lichfield
May 20 1991 The first electrification mast first planted at Erdington
October 5 1992 Work starts on the forth Redditch railway station as part of the Cross City railway electrification project. A new brick built station building was provided together with an extension to the platform to allow the operation of 6 car electric trains.
November 30 1992 Electric services start between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield　
May 28 1993  The BBC local television presenter Kay Alexandra officially opened this new and forth Redditch station
June 6 1993 The whole line from Lichfield to Redditch is energised on after the use of a Class 86 electric locomotive on the Redditch branch as a load bank tester. This was to ensure the new overhead wire system could cope with the current drawn by the trains
July 12 1993 Electric services finally started to Redditch on 12 July 1993.
Summer 2012 Construction started on the doubling the track on around 40% of the Redditch to Barnt Green line
September 1 2014 Construction work on the doubling of a section of the Redditch branch is completed and the new station at Alvechurch is opened
December 15 2014 The three train an hour service started to and from Redditch
November 6 2016 After a weeks shut down of the line through Bromsgrove to relay track and install new signals the old Saltley Power Box that controlled the Redditch Branch was closed and so the Redditch Branch and the Lickey Incline are now controlled by the new Saltley Control Centre.