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.