Dudley Freightliner Terminal was opened on the site of Dudley railway station in November 1967, as one of 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 1986. Trains passed by the site of the Freightliner terminal until the Wednesbury to Round Oak section of the South Staffordshire Line and Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton line closed in 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 Way 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. The Freightliner equipment was removed in about 1990 and the site of the former terminal is now little more than an overgrown field, though some of the concrete surface remains in place near the tracks - most of it was ripped up and removed in the late 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.
Today's usage
People regularly use it for walking, bird watching and walking their dogs. There were plans for a waste reception centre to be developed on the site in 1997, but these were quickly shelved. There have also been plans for housing and even a new football stadium to be built on the site. 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.
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 trams on one track and for freight on the other. The freighters would continue on past Brettell Lane railway station and on to the mainline at Stourbridge junction. The closed section of railway through Dudley is expected to re-open by 2023, as a combined West Midlands Metro tramway and a heavy rail line for goods trains. When the Midland Metro opens, it is expected that 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 north mouth of the Dudley Railway Tunnel. Part of the terminal site is expected to be occupied by an expansion to Dudley Zoo and its overflow car park is already in situ. The site was cleared of vegetation and the old track beginning in 2017, along with other locations along the disused line.
