page_title: Harborne Railway
section_title: Conception
hierarchical_section_title: Harborne Railway / Conception
caption_attribution_description: English: System map of the Harborne Railway in greater Birmingham, England, in 1874
context_page_description: The Harborne Railway was a short standard gauge railway line constructed for residential travel from the Harborne area into the centre of Birmingham, England. The line opened in 1874, and was worked by the London and North Western Railway. As business developed, an increasingly frequent passenger service was operated, at its peak thirty trains each way daily.
  In the 1920s and later it suffered from road bus service competition and it closed to passenger trains in 1934. A private siding connection had been made to Mitchells & Butlers Brewery, but the line closed completely in 1963.
context_section_description: In 1866 Harborne was a distinct community outside Birmingham, with a population of over 22,000. The Harborne Railway was planned to serve certain suburbs of Birmingham, bringing in business people from the well-to-do areas of Lapal (near Halesowen) and Harborne. However, there was major opposition to the Lapal end of the scheme, and the promoters cut back their scheme to a route of just under ​2 ¹⁄₂ miles. The Harborne Railway Company got its Act of Parliament on 28 June 1866. Authorised capital was £100,000.
  The company concluded an arrangement with the London and North Western Railway to work the line for 50% of receipts. The line would join the LNWR Stour Valley Line at Monument Lane Junction, later renamed Harborne Junction. The branch was a single line.
  The station at Harborne opened, and passenger traffic commenced on 10 August 1874. There was a Sunday service at first but there were complaints that the Sabbath was being disturbed and the Company withdrew the trains. Goods services started on 3 October 1874.
  The first passenger train service was of six each way on weekdays and three on Sundays. The early departure of the last train into Birmingham was at 19:20, which attracted adverse comment at the time.
  In 1879 Harborne station platform was extended, and the junction with the Stour Valley main line was renamed Harborne Junction. 
  In 1893, the platform at Harborne was extended, in order to handle longer trains. There was a turntable and a run-round loop, but both were practically unused, and were later removed.
  In 1897 Icknield Port Road station was moved west of the road in its name; the first station had been between the bridges for that road and Barford Road; when it was desired to lengthen the platform, it could not be extended in its old location.
  In 1903 Rotton Park Road station was made into an island platform with a passing loop, enabling the train frequency to be improved. As part of the layout alterations, a siding spur into Mitchell and Butler's brewery was provided, and much traffic resulted.
caption: The Harborne Railway
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