View source for Dudley Freightliner Terminal

{{Short description|Former intermodal terminal in the West Midlands, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox station
| name                = Dudley Freightliner Terminal
| status              = Disused
| image               = Dudley Signal-box (4).jpg
| caption             = The former Dudley signal box's remnants in 2003
| borough             = [[Dudley]], [[Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council]]
| country             = England
| postgroup           = [[British Rail]], then [[Freightliner Group|Freightliner]]
| years1              = 1967
| events1             = Opened
| years2              = 1989
| events2             = Closed
}}
'''Dudley Freightliner Terminal''' was opened on the site of [[Dudley railway station]] in November 1967,<ref>''[[Birmingham Post|Birmingham Daily Post]]'', November 1967</ref> as one of [[Freightliner Group|Freightliner's]] first rail terminals. It was an instant financial success and by 1981 was one of the most profitable Freightliner terminals in Britain, but Freightliner announced plans to close it and transfer the staff to the less successful [[Birmingham]] terminal. These plans were shelved in 1983 but resurfaced in 1986, with the terminal finally closing in September 1989.<ref>''The Railways  of Dudley'', Ned Williams, Uralia Press, 1994 - with photo of the last train in September 1989</ref> Trains continued to pass the site of the Freightliner terminal until the [[Wednesbury]] to [[Round Oak Steel Terminal|Round Oak]] section of the [[South Staffordshire Line]] and Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton line closed in March 1993.

==History==
The station platform became the depot platform, but with no buildings save for the odd [[shed]]. A concrete strip was built over one of the Tipton Five Ways lines to act as a footing for a large [[gantry crane]] that had its other footing on the old platform. The old signal box was at the Blower's Green end of the station and was demolished in 1967 and replaced by a modernized one beside the main road embankment. The sidings near the Castle side embankment were replaced by the manager's office, a staff room and some sheds.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.railphotoprints.co.uk/index/detail/1076/20063-68-Dudley-030281-RP129-1.jpg.html | title=Railphotoprints.co.uk }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.miac.org.uk/dudley.htm|title=Railways in Worcestershire}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.blackcountryhistory.org/collections/search/?q=train+trains+station&cb_submit=Search&fq%5Bpartner_code%5D%5B%5D=GB145&cb_page=11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725081908/http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/search/?q=train+trains+station&cb_submit=Search&fq%5Bpartner_code%5D%5B%5D=GB145&cb_page=11 |archive-date=25 July 2011 |title=Black Country History}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_p_2951/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725081951/http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_p_2951/ |archive-date=25 July 2011 |title=Black Country History}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_p_2952/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725082006/http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_p_2952/ |archive-date=25 July 2011 |title=Black Country History}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_p_2945/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725082054/http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_p_2945/ |archive-date=25 July 2011 |title=Black Country History}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_p_2950/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725082117/http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_p_2950/ |archive-date=25 July 2011 |title=Black Country History}}</ref><ref name="RaBC">{{Cite web|url=http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/Stations/dudley.php|title=Dudley Station}}</ref>

The Freightliner equipment was removed within months of the terminal's closure, and most of the concrete surface was removed later in the 1990s. The adjacent signal box was closed on 5 June 1988 and damaged in an arson attack the following year, being dismantled in the early 1990s.<ref name="RaBC"/>

==Today's usage==
Plans for a waste reception centre to be developed on the site were unveiled in 1997, but these were quickly shelved. There were later plans for housing and even a new [[Soccer-specific stadium|football stadium]] to be built on the site, but none of these plans ever materialized and the site remained derelict for more than 20 years. In 2014, part of the land was developed for a road link between [[Dudley Zoo]] and the [[Black Country Museum]], as well as parking facilities for visitors to these attractions.

==West Midlands Metro==
A 15-year-long regeneration project will see the station become part of the local tram network with the line reopening between [[Walsall]], [[Dudley Port railway station]], [[Dudley railway station]] and the [[Merry Hill Shopping Centre]] for [[West Midlands Metro|trams]]. Goods trains would continue on past [[Brettell Lane railway station]] and on to the mainline at Stourbridge junction, although the trams would only reach [[Wednesbury]] to the north and [[Brierley Hill]] to the south.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-transport-news/2010/11/25/plans-for-1-1-bn-west-midlands-metro-system-unveiled-65233-27711546/ |title=Plans for £1.1 bn West Midlands Metro system unveiled - Transport News - News - Birmingham Post |accessdate=2012-11-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928110942/http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-transport-news/2010/11/25/plans-for-1-1-bn-west-midlands-metro-system-unveiled-65233-27711546/ |archivedate=2012-09-28 }}</ref> The closed section of railway through [[Dudley]] is expected to re-open by 2025,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centro.org.uk/Metro/Nov%2003/W-B%20Timetable.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031213175612/http://www.centro.org.uk/Metro/Nov%2003/W-B%20Timetable.asp |archive-date=13 December 2003 |title=Comments}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=8 Nov 2024 |title=Next stage of Black Country Metro tram extension confirmed |url=https://www.wmca.org.uk/news/next-stage-of-black-country-metro-tram-extension-confirmed/ |website=West Midlands Combined Authority |access-date=13 June 2025}}</ref> as a combined [[West Midlands Metro]] tram route, and the capacity for heavy rail line at a later date.

When the Midland Metro opens, the route will involve trams leaving the traditional line near the former terminal site and passing through Dudley town centre before rejoining the line at the southern mouth of the [[Dudley Railway Tunnel]].

Part of the terminal site is already occupied by a new car park serving [[Dudley Zoo]]. The site was cleared of vegetation and the old track in 2017, along with other locations along the disused line, with full scale work beginning towards the end of 2019. Several bridges along the route are being completely rebuilt, while Parkhead Viaduct is undergoing renovation rather than reconstruction due to its listed status.

==Historic imagery of the site==
<gallery>
File:Dudley Freghtliner depot 2.JPG|The depot in 2001 
File:Dudley frieghtliner depot1.png|The depot in 2001
File:Dudley Signal-box.jpg|The former Dudley Freightliner Terminal signal box's remnants in 2002.
File:Dudley Signal-box (2).jpg|The former Dudley Freightliner Terminal signal box's remnants in 2002, more than 10 years after it was closed and destroyed by arsonists. 
File:Dudley Signal-box (3).jpg|The former Dudley Freightliner Terminal signal box's remnants in 2002.
File:Dudley town railway lines.JPG|The closed old railway lines that once ran between Dudley port and Dudley's Freightliner depot in 2001.
File:Dudley bridges(2001) again.png|The closed old railway lines that once ran between Dudley port and Dudley's Freightliner depot in 2001.

File:Dudley town Freghtliner Terminal 2011.jpg|Clockewise- 1/ The former Dudley station signal box. 2/ The end of the former station-come-depot goods yard. It was a rubbley field from 2000 to date (2011). 3/ The former sidings by the castle. 4/ A view from the base of the Freightliner signal box across to the former station come depot. The tracks are the line from Dudley Port to Netherton, but the path is trackbed of the line to Tipton Five-ways.

File:Dudley Town station platform channel 2011.jpg|Dudley Town's former station platform in 2011 with an old channel carved in it. The channel is for a former gantry crane at the Freightliner depot that Later covered the station platforms and goods yard.
File:Dudley Town station platform 2011.jpg|Dudley Town's former station platform in 2011. There is a channel (out of shot) in it for a former gantry crane at the Freightliner depot that later covered the station platforms and goods yard.
File:Dudley Town station platform buffers 2010.jpg|Dudley Town's former station platform in 2011 with buffers and an old channel carved in it. The channel and buffer beams were for a former gantry crane at the Freightliner depot that Later covered the station platforms and goods yard.

</gallery>

----
{{Disused Rail Start}}
{{rail line|previous=[[Great Bridge North railway station]]<br>or<br>Terminus|next=[[Stourbridge Junction railway station]]<br>or<br>Terminus|route=[[British Rail]], then [[Freightliner Group|Freightliner]] <br>[[South Staffordshire Line|South Staffs Line (inc. Dudley-Stourbridge Junction to 1962) (1852-1964)]]|col=41A317}}
{{s-end}}

==See also==
*[[Round Oak Steel Terminal]]
*[[Great Bridge North railway station]]
*[[Wren's Nest]] quarry

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/Stations/dudley.php Dudley station]
*http://chasewaterstuff.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/some-south-staffordshire-railway-byways/
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120131215934/http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/Wednesbury/Transport.htm localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk]

{{Intermodal railfreight terminals in the Great Britain}}

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[[Category:Disused railway goods stations in Great Britain]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Dudley]]
[[Category:Railway freight terminals in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Transport infrastructure completed in 1967]]
[[Category:1967 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1989 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1967]]