| rdfs:comment | - The Cross-City Line was not built as a single route; it is a combination of lines opened at different times. The oldest section is between Duddeston (originally named Vauxhall) and Aston, which was part of the Grand Junction Railway from Birmingham to Earlestown, opened in 1837. This was extended towards the centre of Birmingham, at Curzon Street, the following year, and into Birmingham New Street in 1854. The line from Aston to Sutton Coldfield was opened in 1862, and extended to Lichfield City in 1884, where it connected with the South Staffordshire Line between Walsall and Lichfield Trent Valley, which had opened in 1849.
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| abstract | - The Cross-City Line was not built as a single route; it is a combination of lines opened at different times. The oldest section is between Duddeston (originally named Vauxhall) and Aston, which was part of the Grand Junction Railway from Birmingham to Earlestown, opened in 1837. This was extended towards the centre of Birmingham, at Curzon Street, the following year, and into Birmingham New Street in 1854. The line from Aston to Sutton Coldfield was opened in 1862, and extended to Lichfield City in 1884, where it connected with the South Staffordshire Line between Walsall and Lichfield Trent Valley, which had opened in 1849. On the south side of the city, the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway had opened in 1841, linking to Curzon Street via the Camp Hill Line. The branch line from Barnt Green to Redditch followed in 1859. The Birmingham West Suburban Railway, taking the route of the Cross-City Line between Kings Norton and Birmingham New Street, opened in 1876. These lines from Birmingham to Barnt Green were operated by the Midland Railway and the line to Lichfield was operated by the London and North Western Railway, so there were no through services. This continued despite the Grouping of the LNW and Midland Railways to form the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1921, and subsequent nationalisation to form British Railways.
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