Wolverhampton railways in 1854Wolverhampton High Level Station in 1963
The first station named Wolverhampton opened on the edge of the town centre in 1837 on the Grand Junction Railway. This station was renamed Wednesfield Heath in 1855, shortly after the present station was opened, and subsequently closed in 1873.
The present site was opened on 1 July 1852 by the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway, a subsidiary of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR); it was named Wolverhampton Queen Street. The only visible remnant of the original station is the Queen's Building, the gateway to Railway Drive, which was the approach road to the station. The building was originally the carriage entrance to the station and was completed three years before the main station building. Today, it forms part of Wolverhampton bus station.
A diagram of railways around central Wolverhampton from 1914; High Level is the red station near the centre
Two years later, on 1 July 1854, the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OWWR) opened a second station, located behind the older station on lower ground, which became known as the Wolverhampton Low Level station from April 1856, the other becoming known as Wolverhampton High Level from 1 June 1885.
Services over the former Grand Junction Railway line to Walsall (and thence to Lichfield City and Burton-on-Trent) ended in January 1965; this route was the only one from here to fall victim to the Beeching Axe.
The former station building of 1964–67 by Ray Moorcroft; it was demolished in 2020
The station dated from 1964, when the High Level station was completely rebuilt by the architect Ray Moorcroft as part of a modernisation programme that saw the West Coast Main Line electrified. It consisted of three through platforms (the present platforms 1, 2 and 3). As part of this scheme, most services on the OW&WR route from Shrewsbury were diverted here from Low Level station, although a few peak-hour trains continued to serve the latter until March 1968; these then continued to Birmingham New Street via the Stour Valley line rather than via the ex-GWR line to Birmingham Snow Hill as before.
In the 1980s, a parcels siding was converted into a south-facing bay platform (the present platform 5), and a new north-facing bay was constructed (the present platform 6).
One of Kevin Atherton's Iron Horse sculptures
In 1987, twelve different horse sculptures by Kevin Atherton, titled Iron Horse, were erected between New Street and Wolverhampton, including one at the southern end of platforms 2 and 3.
More recently, in 2004, a new through platform (no. 4) was constructed on the site of infrequently used sidings. This has greatly enhanced the capacity of the station. A new footbridge was also constructed, to enable access to the new platform as well as improving access to the existing ones. A proposal for a more comprehensive redevelopment of the station and surrounding area was announced on 18 October 2006.
Work on the £150 million redevelopment of the station finally began in 2018; it was expected to be completed in 2020 and include an extension of the West Midlands Metro. However, COVID-19 requirements caused the work to be delayed. Demolition of the 1960s buildings began in May 2020, with the first part of the new station opening the same month. The new station building was fully opened in June 2021, a year later than originally planned. Its aluminium façade is in black and gold, the traditional colours of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Despite the new station building, the platforms and structures from the 1960s station building remain largely untouched. As of 2025, there were no confirmed plans to refurbish those structures or to bring them in-keeping with the new concourse.
5 and 6 are bay platforms at the south and north ends respectively.
Although all four through platforms are reversible, the following generally applies in practice:
is used for northbound services; in the late evenings and on Sundays, there are still a few Avanti West Coast services that either terminate in platforms 1 or 2. These trains usually travel to London Euston, via Birmingham New Street
for northbound and southbound services
for southbound services and for northbound services at busy times
for southbound services; used for all Avanti West Coast services from Edinburgh/Glasgow to London Euston
used by local services to Walsall, via Birmingham New Street
was designed for local services on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line (formerly numbered 4, but renumbered in 2004), but is now rarely used as the majority of services on that route travel through to Birmingham or occasionally to Walsall. It is generally used for the first service of the day to Shrewsbury and for holding trains when they are not in use.
Line 1 (Edgbaston Village/Millennium Point - Wolverhampton St George's/Wolverhampton station)
Platforms
1
History
Opened
17September2023(2023-09-17)
Passengers
N/A
Location
As part of the Interchange project, West Midlands Metro Line 1 was extended to the railway station with the addition of a new Metro stop. It was expected to be operational by 2020; however, this was delayed until the stop opened on 17 September 2023.
↑Christiansen, Rex (1983). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 7 The West Midlands. David St John Thomas David & Charles. p 85 ISBN0-946537-00-3.
12Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p.253. ISBN1-85260-508-1. R508.
0.995 million
3.453 million
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