Railway

An important consideration for the construction of a railway through Redditch was to avoid the ‘Lickey Incline’ on the southerly line from Birmingham which passed through Bromsgrove which opened in 1841. A solution was the 32 mile line from Barnt Green, on the main Birmingham-Worcester line, through Redditch, Alcester, Evesham and on to Ashchurch on the main line to London.

LINKS	Comments
http://www.redditch-mrc.com/	The Redditch Model Railway Club has a nice history section on the railway through Redditch.
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/	The ‘Disused Stations’ site of Subterranea Britannica has information on many closed stations including Redditch.
http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/evesh ambirmingham.htm	The enthusiasts site Warwickshire Railways has an excellent entry for the route (LMS) with maps and photographs for most of the stations (inc. Redditch).

The construction of the railway line to Redditch from Barnt Green began in 1858 and opened for passengers and goods traffic in 1859. Initially the railway station was in Clive Road, but when the line from Evesham and Ashchurch to Redditch, via Alcester, was opened nine years later the passenger station was moved to a site at the corner of Bromsgrove Road – Oakley Road. The extension of the line included a 300 yard tunnel under the Ridgeway, the entrance to which can still be seen in Tunnel drive. Until the First World War, railways were the principle means of transport outside towns and it became a thriving busy line. However, as other, more competitive, means of transport were developed it became less busy and, in 1962, the Evesham to Redditch line closed to passenger traffic as part of the ‘Beeching Axe’.

However, fortunately, due to the impending New Town, the Redditch to Barnt Green section, via Alvechurch, was reprieved and, in 1972, the station was demolished and moved to its present position on the north of the Bromsgrove Road Bridge (above). The old site is now occupied by the bus station and taxi rank.

Today much of the former southerly track bed can still be traced; part of the line has been incorporated into the Evesham Country Park while another short section south of Redditch now forms part of the realigned A441.