Editing Severn Valley Railway (section)

===Commercial history===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Severn Valley Railway Act 1853}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for making a Railway from the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway near Hartlebury in the County of Worcester to the Borough of Shrewsbury in the County of Salop, with a Branch, to be called "The Severn Valley Railway;" and for other Purposes.
| year                  = 1853
| citation              = [[16 & 17 Vict.]] c. ccxxvii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 20 August 1853
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli|Severn Valley Railway Act 1855}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/16-17/227/pdfs/ukla_18530227_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Severn Valley Railway Act 1855}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for the making and maintaining of the Severn Valley Railway; and for other Purposes.
| year                  = 1855
| citation              = [[18 & 19 Vict.]] c. clxxxiii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 30 July 1855
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = {{ubli|Severn Valley Railway Act 1853}}
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/18-19/183/pdfs/ukla_18550183_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Severn Valley Railway Act 1856}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for authorizing Deviations from the authorized Line of the Severn Valley Railway, and for making further Provision with respect to Shares in the Capital of the Severn Valley Railway Company, and for facilitating the Completion of their Undertaking, and for other Purposes.
| year                  = 1856
| citation              = [[19 & 20 Vict.]] c. cxi
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 21 July 1856
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/19-20/111/pdfs/ukla_18560111_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Severn Valley Railway Act 1858}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for making further Provision with respect to the Severn Valley Railway, in order to the Completion thereof; and for other Purposes.
| year                  = 1858
| citation              = [[21 & 22 Vict.]] c. cxxxv
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 23 July 1858
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Severn Valley Railway (Leasing) Act 1860}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to enable the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway Company to take on Lease the Undertaking of the Severn Valley Railway Company.
| year                  = 1860
| citation              = 23 & 24 Vict. c. lxxvi
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 14 June 1860
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/23-24/76/pdfs/ukla_18600076_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|West Midland and Severn Valley Railways Act 1862}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to authorize an Alteration of the Terms of the Lease of the Severn Valley Railway to the West Midland Railway Company; and for other Purposes.
| year                  = 1862
| citation              = [[25 & 26 Vict.]] c. clxxxiii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 29 July 1862
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/25-26/183/pdfs/ukla_18620183_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = {{visible anchor|Severn Valley Railway Act 1864}}
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to authorize the Severn Valley Railway Company to raise further Sums of Money, and to make certain Works in connexion with their Railway; and for other Purposes.
| year                  = 1864
| citation              = [[27 & 28 Vict.]] c. cli
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 30 June 1864
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/27-28/151/pdfs/ukla_18640151_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The Severn Valley Railway was built between 1858 and 1862, and linked [[Hartlebury]], near [[Droitwich Spa]], with [[Shrewsbury]], a distance of {{convert|40|mi|km|0}}. Important stations on the line were {{stnlnk|Stourport-on-Severn}}, {{stnlnk|Bewdley}}, and {{stnlnk|Arley}} within [[Worcestershire]]; and {{stnlnk|Highley}}, {{stnlnk|Hampton Loade}}, {{stnlnk|Bridgnorth}}, {{stnlnk|Coalport}}, {{stnlnk|Ironbridge and Broseley}}, {{stnlnk|Buildwas}}, {{stnlnk|Cressage}}, and {{stnlnk|Berrington}} in [[Shropshire]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Siviter |first=Roger |title=Past and Present special: The Severn Valley Railway |year=1995 |publisher=Past & Present Publishing |location=Wadenhoe |isbn=1-85895-080-5}}</ref>

Although the railway was built by the original Severn Valley Railway Company, it was operated from opening on 1 February 1862 by the [[West Midland Railway]] which was later absorbed into the [[Great Western Railway]] (GWR) on 1 August 1863.{{sfn|Marshall|1989|p=50}} As one of the many branch lines on the GWR's extensive network, it was subsequently referred to in GWR timetables as the Severn Valley Branch.<ref>GWR Timetable 1902, P122, etc.</ref> Most infrastructure on the line (excluding embankments and cuttings) was constructed to a [[Double-track railway|double-track]] width, but only a [[single-track railway|single-track]] was laid to save on costs, this was to allow a future expansion to double track to occur with minimal disruption to services on the line, however, this would never occur.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Double track - SVR Wiki |url=https://www.svrwiki.com/Double_track |access-date=11 April 2025 |website=www.svrwiki.com}}</ref>

In 1878, the GWR opened a link line between Bewdley and Kidderminster. This meant trains could run direct from the [[Black Country]] to areas of Shropshire. This link line is now part of the preserved route, with the original line of the Severn Valley Railway, through Stourport, having been dismantled from beyond the original junction near Bewdley, to Hartlebury, where it met the OWW. Most Kidderminster to Bewdley trains continued over the [[Tenbury and Bewdley Railway|Tenbury and Bewdley railway]] (dismantled in the 1960s) to [[Tenbury Wells]] or [[Woofferton]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |title=Bradshaw's Rail Times for Great Britain and Ireland: December 1895, reprint. |date=2011 |publisher=Middleton Press. |isbn=978-1-908174-11-6 |edition=}}</ref> At Buildwas Junction (now the site of the former [[Ironbridge Power Station]] near what is now [[Telford]]) Severn Valley trains connected with services from [[Wellington, Shropshire|Wellington]] to [[Much Wenlock]] and [[Craven Arms]].<ref name=":3" />

For much of its working life, the Severn Valley line was operated by the [[Great Western Railway]] and subsequently the [[Western Region of British Railways]]. Today, the Severn Valley Railway operates almost exclusively as a [[Heritage railway|heritage passenger railway]].

==== Decline and closure ====
Prior to preservation, the Severn Valley line was never financially successful.<ref>{{cite book |author=Oppitz, Leslie |title=Lost Railways of Herefordshire and Worcestershire |year=2004 |publisher=Countryside Books |location=Newbury |page=52 |isbn=1-85306-754-7}}</ref> Freight traffic, mostly agricultural, and [[coal]] traffic from the collieries of [[Alveley]] and [[Highley]] were the principal sources of revenue. Passenger numbers began to fall after the [[First World War]], particularly at the large intermediate stations of Stourport, Bewdley, and Bridgnorth,{{sfn|Vanns|2017|p=36}} with measures such as the opening of [[Halt (railway)|halts]] in the 1930s to attract more local custom having only limited impact. However, the line was strategically useful in the [[Second World War]] as an alternative diversionary route around the West Midlands, the primary route being the [[Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway|Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway]].{{sfn|Vanns|2017|p=43}}

After [[Nationalisation of British railways|nationalisation]] in 1948, passenger traffic continued to dwindle. Although the Severn Valley Branch was closed during the [[Beeching cuts]] of the 1960s, it was already scheduled for closure prior to the publication of Beeching's report, 'The Reshaping of British Railways', on 27 March 1963. British Railways had announced in January 1962 that the Severn Valley Branch was under review, and the [[British Transport Commission]] published closure proposal notices on 1 October 1962 in advance of a meeting of the West Midlands Transport Users Consultative Committee, which took place at [[Bridgnorth Town Hall]] on 8 November 1962.<ref>{{cite book |title=Severn Valley Railway Memories |first=Christopher |last=Magner |year=1997 |pages=25–26}}</ref> Objections to the proposed closure were unsuccessful and the line between Shrewsbury and Bewdley was closed to passenger services on 9 September 1963, and to through freight services on 30 November 1963.{{sfn|Marshall|1989|p=163}} Following closure, the track north of Bridgnorth was dismantled. After 1963, the line from Bewdley was retained to serve Alveley Colliery until 1969, while a sparse passenger service continued to link Bewdley with Kidderminster and Hartlebury, until this too ceased in January 1970. Freight traffic between the [[British Sugar Corporation]]'s Foley Park factory and Kidderminster continued until 1982.