Although the line was initially jointly run by the London & North Western & Midland Railway companies, disagreements between the partners soon developed, and the railway was bought outright by the London and North Western Railway in 1875. A year later, the L&NWR sold the line to the Midland Railway, who made an end-on connection via the short Walsall Avoiding Line to their Sutton Park Line at the line's western terminus near Ryecroft Junction, with additional south-facing connections added into Ryecroft Junction itself, allowing Midland Railway trains from Birmingham to access either Wolverhampton or Derby - mostly via their own lines. Originally known as the the Sutton Park Line had been acquired by the MR on 30 July 1874, its eastern end connecting to the former Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway line at a triangular junction near Castle Bromwich. The acquisition of both the W&WR and the W,W&MJR provided the Midland Railway with a direct route into Wolverhampton from the east of Birmingham. Thanks to the main line connection at Wolverhampton, either or both sections of the combined line were able to be used as diversionary routes during engineering works elsewhere on Birmingham's railway network.
In 1878, the running powers for the Midland Railway into Wolverhampton High Level ceased, and so the company decided to build a new terminus on Wednesfield Road, just to the east of Wolverhampton Low Level. This would have led to the unusual situation of having three stations for three different companies next to each other, and an Act of Parliament to allow construction of the new station was passed on 28 June 1877. However, the London and North Western Railway also gained an Act on the same day to allow construction of the "Loop Line" between the Grand Junction Railway and Wolverhampton High Level, and to allow the extension of the High Level station itself. This would have caused access problems for both the Low Level station, and the proposed station at Wednesfield Road. Eventually, the extension plan was dropped, and the Midland Railway managed to renegotiate the use of Wolverhampton High Level. As the proposed new terminal was no longer required, a large goods depot was built in its place which opened in November 1881. This depot was demolished in the 1990s, and is today the site of a large Royal Mail sorting office.
Closure
Later known as the Walsall to Wolverhampton Line, it was never particularly successful as a passenger route and enjoyed only a meagre patronage at best. Some stations were closed within only a few years of the line's opening and all passenger services were withdrawn on 5 January 1931. However, the line remained open to goods traffic until 28 September 1964 when it was divided into two sections just west of the former Bentley station by construction work commencing on the Walsall to Stafford section of the M6 motorway. Part of the western section of the line was closed to all traffic when Short Heath goods yard closed on 7 December 1964, after which the remaining goods traffic still using the line terminated at Willenhall. The rest of the western section was closed to all traffic on 1 November 1965 when Willenhall goods yard closed. However, the section from Heath Town Junction to Noose Lane near Willenhall was reopened in 1970, although in reality it was little more than a very long siding for steel trains to run along from the former Round Oak Steelworks to the Weldless Tube Company works. When this traffic ceased after the closure of the steelworks on 23 December 1982, the line was closed again in 1983. The first section of track to be lifted was between Bentley and Birchills Power Station and by 1977, most of the track between Noose Lane, Willenhall and Birchills Power Station had been lifted, though the section to the west of Noose Lane was still used to serve various industrial areas. However, these remaining sections of track were progressively removed during the 1980s. The eastern section from Ryecroft Junction remained open to serve Birchills Power Station until this traffic ceased sometime in 1978, with the line remaining disused until official closure took place on 12 May 1980. The closure of this section robbed Ryecroft Junction of being the sole surviving four-way junction on Britain's railway network. Although all scheduled passenger services were withdrawn on 18 January 1965, the former Wolverhampton, Walsall & Midland Junction Railway remains open in 2018 from Water Orton to Ryecroft Junction for freight, with the very occasional railway enthusiasts' charter train forming the only passenger services to use the line in recent years. The short Walsall Avoiding Line from Lichfield Road Junction to North Walsall Junction which connected both the W&WR and the W,W&MJR together was closed to all traffic in 1967. In the 1990s, a section of the W&WR trackbed was used for the route of the A4124 Wednesfield Way. In 2011, the trackbed from Walsall to Bentley via North Walsall was filled in due to anti-social behavior and to preserve the route for possible future use.
Future
The line was planned to form part of the proposed '5' Ws West Midlands Metro route which would have connected Walsall, Wednesbury, Willenhall, Wednesfield and Wolverhampton but Walsall Council pulled out of the scheme due to lack of funding and the plans were dropped. The trackbed is still preserved in readiness for part of the Midland Metro scheme. However, the original plans for Line 3 of the Midland Metro which was to run from Wolverhampton to Walsall were officially abandoned in October 2015: the line’s original route being modified to run instead from Wednesbury to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Brierley Hill, with a later extension planned to Stourbridge via Brettel Lane. In 2019, it was revealed that the WMCA and TfWM were looking into the feasibility of a third West Midlands Metro Line, from Wolverhampton Station to Walsall Station, via Heath Town, New Cross Hospital, Bentley Bridge, Wednesfield and Willenhall.
