The South Staffordshire line is a partially mothballed and active former mainline that connects Burton-upon-Trent to Lichfield in Staffordshire and formerly then to the West Midlands towns of Walsall, Wednesbury, Dudley and Stourbridge. However, Dudley and Stourbridge were already joined to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway's (OW&WR) line just north of Dudley Station. It in essence, continued to Stourbridge (Dudley and Stourbridge were later to become part of the West Midlands conurbation) along with Wednesbury and Walsall. History The line was opened on 1 May 1850. This was soon to become part of the London and North Western Railway as far as Dudley station, which, in 1860, was opened as a joint venture with the OW&WR itself later to become amalgamated into the Great Western Railway. This station was built ten years after the original connection, however, and trains on the South Staffordshire line ran from Walsall to Stourbridge fairly early on. Dudley provided a useful change point for passengers from Walsall and Stourbridge to Wolverhampton, though this wasn't utilised to quite the effect the OW&WR had hoped, due to the similar connection at Dudley Port by the SSR with the Stour Valley Line – which today forms part of the West Midlands section of the West Coast Main Line. To the north of Dudley Port, a link to the Birmingham Snow Hill- Wolverhampton Low Level route was added sometime between the inauguration of the line and the opening of Great Bridge South railway station in 1866. All three of the above – Dudley Port, Great Bridge and Wednesbury – were completed in 1850, and the line was then opened accordingly. All other stations on the route – from Lichfield to Walsall – were in operation from 1849. Route The line began in Burton, it then continued to Lichfield Trent Valley running on a small section of the present-day Cross City Line. It then branched off south of Lichfield City towards Walsall via Hammerwich, Brownhills, Pelsall and Rushall. It then continued towards Dudley via Wednesbury, Great Bridge and Dudley Port. Dudley served as the terminus although some services continued onto Stourbridge on the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. This allowed passengers to change for the other lines on the route at Lichfield, Walsall, Dudley and Stourbridge. The line also had sidings on certain parts of the route. Including at Angelsea Sidings, a branch to Wednesbury via Darlaston and sidings