West Midland Railway

West Midland Railway timetable published prior to opening of the SVRSevern Valley Railway

The West Midland Railway (WMR) was formed on 1 July 1860 with the merger of three companies - the Newport, Abergavenny & Hereford Railway and the Worcester & Hereford Railway merged and vested in the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WOxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway), the united undertaking to be called West Midland Railway Company. The OW&WOxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway was heavily involved in the early history of the Severn Valley Railway, officially leasing the line on 14 June 1860, the lease passing to the WMR.

As a result of the merger, by the time the SVRSevern Valley Railway opened on on 1 February 1862, the WMR were responsible for operating the former OWWOxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway line from Worcester through Hartlebury, which formed the SVRSevern Valley Railway's southern connection. An article in the Worcester Journal in 1863 entitled 'Excursions by Railway' noted "We commence our journey on the Severn Valley line at Hartlebury, where it joins the West Midland..." An original copy of the 1862 Act of Parliament that authorised an alteration of the terms of the lease of the Severn Valley Railway Company to the West Midland Railway Company was presented to the SVR Archives in 2019.

The WMR also operated under lease the Wellington and Severn Junction Railway branch of the Wellington to Craven Arms Railway, which crossed the Severn Valley branch at Buildwas.

The WMR were initially responsible for planning of the Kidderminster Loop Line, incorporated in the The West Midland and Severn Valley Companies Act 1861. Subsequently, a wide-ranging agreement was reached between the LNWRLondon & North Western Railway and the GWR/WMR on 17 March 1863, which ensured that the LNWRLondon & North Western Railway would not oppose the GWRGreat Western Railway's forthcoming absorption of the WMR.

Under the Great Western Railway (West Midland Amalgamation) Act 13 July 1863, West Midland Railway Company was dissolved and vested in the GWRGreat Western Railway. Complete amalgamation was brought about by the Great Western Railway Act 1872.

In July 1862, the Tenbury Railway and Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway were jointly leased by the LNWRLondon & North Western Railway, the GWRGreat Western Railway and the WMR. The WMR was to have operated the Tenbury and Bewdley Railway part of the Wyre Forest Line, but was absorbed into the GWRGreat Western Railway before the line opened.

Records of the West Midland Railway Company, notably Board minutes, Parliamentary Bill papers, contracts, agreements and leases, are held by The National Archives, Kew.

See also

• Kidderminster Loop Line
• The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership
• Wyre Forest Line
• Wellington to Craven Arms Railway