Editing Chase Line (section)

===Walsall – Rugeley: closure and reopening===
Passenger services on the line between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley were withdrawn in 1965, and the intermediate stations closed as part of the [[Beeching Axe]], the line however remained open to freight, although until the 1980s it was not unknown for diverted Inter-City passenger services from Birmingham to Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, etc. to use the line in the event of the Wolverhampton-Stafford route being shut for Sunday or late evening engineering work.<ref>{{cite book| first=J.| last=Glover| title=West Midlands Rails in the 1980s| publisher=Ian Allan| year=1984}}</ref><ref name="Boynton">{{cite book|last1=Boynton|first1=John|title=A Century of Railways around Birmingham and the West Midlands, Volume Three 1973–1999|date=October 1999|publisher=Mid England Books|isbn=0-9522248-6-0}}</ref>

Passenger services were restored to the line and most of the stations reopened between 1989 and 1998, as part of a joint initiative between the [[West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive]] (WMPTE) and [[Staffordshire County Council]]. The name ''Chase Line'' was invented as a [[marketing]] name for the restored line, and came into use at this time. The restoration took place in stages, as follows:<ref name="Boynton"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Walsall-Wolverhampton TRAINS|url=http://www.freewebs.com/southstaffsrailway/walsallwolverhampton.htm|publisher=South Staffs Railway|accessdate=12 September 2017|archive-date=10 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510055857/http://www.freewebs.com/southstaffsrailway/walsallwolverhampton.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

*10 April 1989 — Walsall to Hednesford
*2 June 1997 — Hednesford to Rugeley Town
*25 May 1998 — Rugeley Town to Rugeley Trent Valley and Stafford
*12 December 2008 — Chase Line trains are cut back from Stafford to Rugeley Trent Valley.
*22 May 2018 — Chase Line trains increased to a 30-minute frequency Monday to Saturday, with a 60-minute frequency on Sunday
*19 May 2019 — Electric passenger services begin north of Walsall. In addition to this, services are extended to Birmingham International (2tph).