The new faster train from Shrewsbury to Birmingham starts this week – here’s the timetable

West Midlands Railway (WMR) is introducing a new timetable along the Shrewsbury – Wolverhampton and Birmingham corridor, with its service up to two trains per hour Monday to Saturday.

Until now an hourly service has operated, stopping at all stations between the Shropshire county town and Wolverhampton, with Transport for Wales (TfW) offering a faster train.

However, from Monday the WMR is introducing a second “semi-fast” service which stops at fewer stations – just Wellington, Telford Central and Shifnal – compared to the current train, while the other service is bypassed via Tame Bridge Parkway on its way between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street.

WMR says the diversion is ahead of new stations at Willenhall and Darlaston opening in late 2025.

The train operator admits that journey times between the Black Country and Oakengates, Cosford, Albrighton, Codsall and Bilbrook will be longer as that train is diverted along the new, less direct route between Wolverhampton and Birmingham. These stations will also lose their regular direct link to the Smethwick Galton Bridge.

Jonny Wiseman, WMR’s director of customer experience, said: “Timetables are changing on Sunday 2 June and I would urge passengers to double check their travel plans as timetables may have changed. The timetable has been developed with passenger and community feedback in mind and changes have been made to provide passengers with a more robust and better performing overall service.”

Timetable from Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton and Birmingham

From Monday, two morning WMR trains will leave Shrewsbury at 5.40am and 6.10am and will call at all stations to Wolverhampton. From there, the first will go to New Street via Smethwick, a 23-minute journey, while the second will go via Tame Bridge Parkway, which will take a further 11 minutes.

The first semi-fast WMR service, which only stops at Wellington, Telford Central and Shifnal before reaching Wolverhampton, leaves Shrewsbury at 6.51am, arriving at Wolverhampton at 7.30am and New Street at 7.52am, before a another slow train calling at all stations to leave at 7:10. I have,.

After that, the faster WMR service will leave Shrewsbury just before 7.57am until the last one departs at 7.30pm, with end-to-end journey times of just over an hour. The slower trains will depart at five o’clock and take 81 minutes to complete the route. After that, only the slower WMR trains will run east to the Black Country, although the faster TfW train will still run until the evening.

Birmingham to Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury timetable

In the opposite direction, the first trains of the day will leave New Street at 5.56 and 6.22 – the first being a slow which stops at all stations after Wolverhampton and the second being semi-fast.

A regular pattern of slow trains via Tame Bridge Parkway, followed by semi-fast services will start from 7.29am, with the slower services leaving shortly before every hour and a half, while the faster alternative leaves at eight minutes every hour. This pattern continues until 6.26pm, with hourly slow trains – this time running via Smethwick – leaving New Street at 6.52pm, 8.04pm, 8.52pm, 9.62pm and 10.56pm.

Transport for Wales is changing

TfW has also made some minor changes to services on other routes in the county.

On weekdays the 7:17 Cardiff to Holyhead train will now stop at Craven Arms (8:56) and Church Stretton (9:05).

From Sunday 2nd June to 8th September the 8.31am service from Shrewsbury to Machynlleth will return for the first time since Covid and on Friday evening the 9.55pm train from Cardiff to Crewe will terminate at Shrewsbury with a new 12:17 service from Shrewsbury to Crewe. running.

Forward West Coast

The once daily service from Shrewsbury to London Euston has ended.