page_title: Cross-City Line
section_title: Constituent railways
hierarchical_section_title: Cross-City Line / History / Constituent railways
caption_attribution_description: English: Diagrammatic map of the Cross-City Line; image created using MicroStation and exported as a png file.
context_page_description: The Cross-City Line is a commuter rail line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs for 32 miles from Redditch, and Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, its two southern termini, to Lichfield, Staffordshire, its northern terminus, via Birmingham New Street, connecting the suburbs of Birmingham in between. Services are operated by West Midlands Trains.
  Cross-City Line services began in 1978, as a project of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive to improve local rail services. It made use of pre-existing railways lines, which previously did not have any through services. Services were extended to Redditch in 1980, and to Lichfield Trent Valley in 1988. The route was electrified in 1993. In 2018 services were extended to Bromsgrove, which was added as a second southern terminus.
context_section_description: What is now the Cross-City Line was not built as a single route; it is a combination of lines opened by different companies at different times, between 1837 and 1885.
  On the northern half of the route (Birmingham-Lichfield):
  The oldest section is between Duddeston (originally named Vauxhall) and Aston, which was part of the Grand Junction Railway from Birmingham to Earlestown, opened in 1837. This was extended towards the centre of Birmingham, at Curzon Street, the following year, and into Birmingham New Street in 1854.
  The line from Aston to Sutton Coldfield was opened by the London and North Western Railway in 1862, and extended to Lichfield City in 1884, where it connected with the South Staffordshire Line between Walsall and Lichfield Trent Valley, which had opened in 1849.
  On the southern half of the route (Birmingham-Redditch):
  The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway had opened in 1840, following what is now the Cross-City Line between Bromsgrove and Kings Norton, although this line ran to Curzon Street (later New Street) via what is now the Camp Hill Line.
  The single-track branch line from Barnt Green to Redditch followed in 1859, as part of the Midland Railway's Gloucester Loop Line, which was closed south of Redditch in 1964.
  The Birmingham West Suburban Railway, taking the route of the Cross-City Line between Kings Norton and central Birmingham via Bournville, opened to its original terminus at Granville Street in 1876, it was extended into Birmingham New Street in 1885, and the Granville Street terminus closed.
  These lines from Birmingham to Barnt Green and Redditch were operated by the Midland Railway and the line to Lichfield was operated by the London and North Western Railway, so there were no through services. This continued despite the Grouping of the LNW and Midland Railways to form the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1921, and subsequent nationalisation to form British Railways.
  Prior to the creation of the Cross-City Line, the northern half of the route from New Street to Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield had a well used regular suburban service, which had been switched from steam to diesel multiple unit (DMU) operation in 1956, leading to a large increase in usage. However, the southern half of the route from New Street to Redditch was a different matter: In 1964, the closure of all the stations between New Street and Redditch (along with the branch to Redditch) was proposed by the Beeching Axe. They were reprieved from closure in 1967, however the service was cut back to a handful of trains at peak times for commuters.
caption: Diagrammatic map of Cross-City Line, including Bromsgrove which was added as a second southern terminus in 2018.
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