This is my local train station. I pass through it on a daily basis and can report that it…read moreis...err...a non-descript local train station. It is on the Snow Hill-Stourbridge London Midland line and some of the Chiltern Trains to London Marylebone stop here too. The station has a ticket office WITH AN ACTUAL PERSON at most times. There are tickets machines in the lobby for when the office is closed. The waiting areas are alright, though I sometimes want to brush the seat off before I sit down. The best bit is the cool little station shop - they sell newspapers, magazines, sweets and breakfast stuff, like bacon sandwiches, tea and toast.

This place is no Rowley Regis…read more The ticket staff here are so slow sometimes I feel like jumping in front of a train. Once one member of staff stood there looking at me through the glass after I had brought my tickets wondering why I was going crazy. It's because the train is parked up and you have forgotten to pass the tickets under the window!! I missed my train. You are forgiven, but I'll never forget, There's a shop that seems to only open for 20 minuets a morning where you can buy coffee from a 100 year old machine or a freshly made bacon or sausage sandwich. I opt for the energy drinks and chocolate bars to calm my nerves over the slow service. There is a self serve machine but no one likes using them, your in risk of snapping a finger typing in your destination on it. Toilets are where you'd expect a troll to live, even by my very low standards of hygiene. The one nice thing about this station is that when the barriers are up you can walk across the lines. Makes you feel risky and adventurous.

Blackheath represent. Did you see the photo I added of the train station? Do you wish you were…read morethere? Well you should. Rowley Regis is my local train station so it's a good job it's so nice to be in. I judge a train station on how quickly my server can get those tickets out the machine, under that little window and into my hand. Rowley staff are insanely fast, they know I'm already late and the trains pulling off and BAM like a magician it's in my hands! and because of this I sometimes make the train.. Thanks guys. In terms of other things, no toilet, no shop. But if you need to pee remember where you are and the grass is always an option. Another good thing is that no matter what time you get there, there's always a metro waiting. No one in Blackheath reads so your always sorted for a bit of metro action.

Rowley Regis is my local station. Trains every 10 minutes to Birmingham and Warwickshire and in the…read moreother direction to Stourbridge with some trains going on to Kidderminster and Worcester. And Surprise Surprise for such a station to the west of Birmingham there are three trains each morning to London with return trains in the evening.

Lovely ride through the countryside! Sit on the back cars if you don't want to smell coal during…read moreyour ride. It can get a bit stuffy and warm since there is no air conditioning, so I wouldn't recommend going on a very hot day. Lots of walking at Bridgnorth. So wear comfortable shoes.

I have to agree with the previous reviewers that one of the annoying things about Sandwell & Dudley…read morestation is that it's nowhere near Dudley! A more appropriate name would be Oldbury & West Bromwich as the station is a few minutes walk from the former and about 15 minutes pace to the latter (although I have got long legs). Even though I'd passed through the station hundreds of times, it wasn't until I moved to Oldbury that I realised where Oldbury was. Maybe the place would less of a ghost town if it's station wasn't named after somewhere a few miles away? The station itself is always clean and the waiting rooms have heaters that you can turn on yourself (although they don't do much good in my experience). The staff are friendly and helpful and the platforms are far too long for such an intemediary station. I think the station was maybe envisioned as some kind of way to put Dudley on the rail map. It failed and I can't help feeling it's taken Oldbury down in the process.

American visiting England for the first time. Completely unfamiliar with rail system (we have no…read moresuch system in Vegas) & having wandered aimlessly thru Manchester Piccadilly, Wolverhampton, and London Underground days before...I really liked this station! 2 platforms. Straightforward. Simple enough. Overwhelming it was not. Was a bit rattled when a train came by ... quickly learned to lean against something. Lol I enjoyed this station...it was a nice welcome change from what I previously experienced...controlled chaos.

Tame Bridge Parkway is a useful little station on the main Walsall to Birmingham line. It lies on…read morea convenient commuter route half way between West Bromwich and Walsall and well connected by the legendary 404 bus route. Parking is free. Places can be at a premium after about 8.15am in the morning and overspill often takes in the road to the car park itself. There is an automatic machine to buy tickets and a ticket office to duck out of the rain from or if you just want to grab today's copy of the Metro. There are no toilet facilities or snack machines though. Due to the location of Tame Bridge Parkway, if trains are cancelled, you would be forced to take the 404 to West Bromwich and get the metro or the 74/75 (the former taking 15 mins, the latter taking as long as it needs to to clear Handsworth).

A convenient train station with trains pulling into Birmingham New Street 20 minutes later…read more There is a free car park which gets full during the week days with commuters, but I have been known to arrive here at 11am or later and there has been the odd space despite the cars parking on the road. There is one self serve ticket machine outside, and a ticket counter inside the waiting area which is always manned. There is no toilet here which would be a nice addition as would a little coffee hatch. All in all a good station that is always kept clean and tidy.

Langley Green is a handy little station for getting into town (if Birmingham's what you call town)…read morequickly from Oldbury. Trains run every half hour during the week and on Saturday towards Snow Hill and Moor Street and take about 15 minutes. The three staff that work there are all pleasant and seem to have good relationships with regular commuters. I personally use this service at least twice a week and an off-peak return to town costs £2.20 (£3.30 peak). The small waiting room is clean and, crucially, is warm in winter time. The only problem is that it's locked when the station is unmanned. Other problems with the station are that trains rarely call there on Sundays and it's impossible to get to from Brum after about 6pm (during the week the last train leaves Snow Hill at 20 past 11). The 120 bus service runs past the station but the stops in both directions are nowhere near the station entrance which makes for poor integration. Finally, if you're approaching the station from the Tat Bank Road end, there is no way to enter the station without walking a fair way past the station building and having to walk back up the car park. Perhaps just a little more thought would make this fairly remote little station a bit more accessible?

This is one of the minor stations on the route between Stourbridge and Snow Hill. Not all services…read morestop here, so it is always worth double-checking timetables befo remaking your journey. The station is handy for those who live or work in Oldbury, though it is still a fair jaunt away from the town centre. There are two platforms, with the waiting room and ticket office located on the Birmingham-bound side. It is a well-maintained, clean and tidy station with parking for 28 vehicles.

Located between Rowley Regis and Cradley Heath, Old Hill is a fairly unpopular station, with the…read moremajority of trains on the Moor St - Kidderminster line shooting straight past, not stopping at the small station. Two of my best friends jumped on the train at Old Hill, when we attended High School in Hagley, but a lot of the time the train went straight past and stopped at Cradley Heath after Rowley.. Ignoring Old Hill. The station itself is fairly low key, with two platforms and a extremely basic ticket office, Old Hill really isn't one of my favourite train stations, but for a lot of people who know the time table inside out, I'm sure it works out just fine.... With one train on either platform every hour..

Old Hill Station is tucked well away from Old Hill itself. It is hidden practically on an…read moreindustrial estate, nowhere near anywhere remotely useful (for me that is!). It isn't very easy to find. Like many stations on the Moor Street-Kidderminster line, Old Hill is fairly basic. There are two platforms, a small car park and a waiting room/ticket office. Wikipedia reliably informs me that the current ticket office was built in 1968 after the old timber building was destroyed by fire in 1967. Get a load of THAT, fact fans! Platform 2 is reached by crossing a rather rickety bridge. It is a very quiet station and can feel a bit isolated late at night. Trains tend to run every 30 minutes or so, with only selected trains stopping at Old Hill.

Try and avoid. I get a connecting train here when I visit my parents and it almost feels a derelict…read morestation. Waiting rooms and bathrooms are all locked, nowhere to purchase refreshments, information is a bit all over the place and not a single member of staff is ever around to ask for help. And also, there's waaaaay too many flights of stairs here so leave those suitcases at home!

I've spent more time here than a human ever should. Everyday you can see stranded students here…read moretrying to get back Stourbridge way from Wolverhampton due to some delay or breakdown. This stations layout isn't so bad but it's only when it's truly imprinted into your mind where you need to stand that it's not a problem anymore, I actually rejoice when on a train directly to Birmingham and I can pass right through this station and not get off. The doors to the waiting areas are locked, smashed or filled with enough piss to drown a drunken man. To this day I'm still not sure how many platforms exist on this station. Maybe 3? Plot your route a head of time to avoid delays.

As small out of city train stations go this isn't really that bad - I have seen my fair share…read more It has four platforms, but only platforms 1 and 4 are used. 2 and 3 have been turned into what I can only describe and some sort of forest nature reserve and I feel that this could be better used for something. This brings me into my next point, it has had a lick of paint recently - just the benches. It could do with a bit of TLC. The main entrance leads up to a fair few shops and cafes in Cotteridge, because of this you can forgive the station from having no facilities of its own. I've heard it has a toilet if your desperate but never used it. It isn't this stations fault that the train service on it getting me here each day is terrible. However please be ready for many delays, many many delays.

Kings Norton train station is located at Cotteridge, which often confuses a lot of people…read more It is accessible from 4 different directions/points which is absolutely ideal for those times when you're running a few minutes late. It could do with a bit of TLC like most train stations in the city, the central reservation (which has been unused for as long as I can remember) sites overgrown and unloved. A potential city in bloom project if there ever was one... Overall the station is kept reasonably clean, however the entrance to platform 4 pretty much always has a feint smell of urine (nowhere else, just always this one spot?), luckily I'm rarely heading out of town on this platform! Being a busy station, I've never felt safety is an issue at the station, bar a few mumbling crazy people wandering along the platform (although they're pretty harmless!). Parking provision at the station is always in high demand weekday mornings, but evenings and weekends there is always plenty of free spaces. The parking is free too which is laudable these days!