page_title: West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive
section_title: Railway services
hierarchical_section_title: West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive / History / Railway services
caption_attribution_description: Hunslet Class 323 suburban 25k v ac overhead 3-car emu No.323 221 of Centro entering Birmingham New St on a service from Lichfield Trent Valley, 01/08.
context_page_description: The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive was the public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom from 1969 until 2016. The organisation operated under the name Centro from 1990, and was publicly branded as Network West Midlands from 2005.
  Initially, WMPTE was also responsible for the operation of bus services within the West Midlands. However, following deregulation in 1986 it ceased operating services directly and assumed a purely coordinating role.
  WMPTE was dissolved in 2016 following the establishment of the West Midlands Combined Authority and its transport arm, Transport for West Midlands.
context_section_description: In 1973 WMPTE entered into an agreement with British Rail to take on responsibility for managing and developing local rail services within its area, and to the 'natural terminus' of each line. They became responsible for setting fares and service frequencies, and providing grants for local services, but the operation of the services continued to be in the hands of British Rail, later passing to Central Trains and then London Midland following privatisation. Rail services supported by the PTE carried WMPTE (and later Centro) livery.
  From the mid-1970s onwards, WMPTE took on a more active role in the development of local railway services: Service frequencies were improved on many local lines: One of the first improvements made under WMPTE's auspices, was to the local services between Birmingham Moor Street, Dorridge and Shirley which were doubled in frequency to half-hourly in 1975. Efforts were also undertaken to create new services: The flagship Cross-City Line, implemented in 1978, which included new stations serving Birmingham University and Longbridge, plus the reopening of Five Ways station, was a joint BR/WMPTE project.
  In the 1980s, WMPTE decided to reopen and restore rail services through Birmingham Snow Hill station, which had closed in 1972. The restoration process took place in two stages: The first stage, completed in 1987, saw the opening of new Snow Hill station for services to the south. The second stage, completed in 1995, saw the restoration of the rail link between Snow Hill and the line to Kidderminster and Worcester. In 1999 the former Snow Hill to Wolverhampton line, was reopened as part of the Midland Metro tram line.
  Restoration of passenger services on the Chase Line between Walsall and Rugeley, between 1989 and 1998 was a joint project of WMPTE and Staffordshire County Council. Passenger services on the Walsall to Wolverhampton Line were also restored in 1998, although these were not a success, and were withdrawn in 2008 due to low patronage.
caption: Class 323 in the original Centro livery at Birmingham New Street in September 2007
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