page_title: Worcester and Hereford Railway
section_title: Completion of the Worcester and Hereford Railway
hierarchical_section_title: Worcester and Hereford Railway / Completion of the Worcester and Hereford Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: Sign at Worcester Foregate Street warning of two-way working on both lines. The structure with the blanked-off window, on the extreme left of the image, is the former signalbox.
context_page_description: The Worcester and Hereford Railway started the construction of a standard gauge railway between the two cities in 1858. It had needed the financial assistance of larger concerns, chiefly the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, and the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway. It opened its line progressively from 1859 to 1861, delayed by exceptionally difficult tunnelling at Colwall and Ledbury. The company was purchased by the West Midland Railway in 1860, and that company amalgamated with the Great Western Railway in 1863.
  The line was double track as far as Malvern at first, but was later doubled throughout except for the two tunnels. The line was conceived chiefly as a through railway for passenger and goods trains; the local traffic remained thin.
  The line remained a secondary main line, and is in operation today.
context_section_description: Finishing the Malvern Tunnel was the key to opening the rest of the Worcester and Hereford line. The opening took place on 15 September 1861. It had the effect of physically connecting the two parts of the West Midland Railway: the former OW&WR and the former NA&HR. It also provided a new through narrow (standard) gauge route between London and South Wales; this was important as most of the collieries in South Wales were on narrow gauge lines there, and transhipment of coal had been a major deterrent in conveying coal to London and Southampton over the GWR and its partners. At the same time the LNWR gained access over the line to South Wales.
caption: Worcester Foregate Street station
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