28.06.16
Bromsgrove railway station to open on 12 July
Bromsgrove’s £24m station development, designed to attract business to the town and improve integration with other transport facilities, is complete and will open on 12 July.
The new station features a staffed ticket office, passenger waiting room, toilets and 350 onsite car parking spaces.
It also has an external concourse to link passengers to the car parking areas, new bus stops, a taxi rank, pedestrian footpaths and a cycle store.
The development was carried out by Worcestershire County Council, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), and Network Rail, with construction contractor Buckingham Group, but was subject to delays last year because of ground decontamination work.
Cllr Roger Lawrence, leader of City of Wolverhampton Council and the WMCA lead on transport, said: “I am delighted that the new Bromsgrove station is to open. It will be a superb new facility for the town that will provide so much more than passengers have been used to, enabling increased frequency of trains to and from Bromsgrove and better access to rail services across the region.”
The WMCA replaces Centro, the delivery arm of the former West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority, which has also been responsible for delivering tram extensions in Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
The station has longer platforms to allow additional rail services to stop at Bromsgrove and the capacity to handle 800,000 passengers every year.
Further railway construction works are scheduled during 2016, including the installation of a new signalling system and electrification between Bromsgrove and Barnt Green, which will allow four trains an hour to travel between Bromsgrove and Wolverhampton.
In its latest rolling stock strategy, the Rail Delivery Group said that electrification beyond CP6 is vital to accommodate the UK’s growing rolling stock fleet.
Martin Ball, area director for Network Rail, said: “The new Bromsgrove station will provide a significant boost to passengers and the wider area, providing better facilities and a much-improved first impression of the town.
“We have worked closely with Centro and Worcestershire County Council to deliver the station, which supports our national Railway Upgrade Plan to provide a better railway for passengers.”
Steve Fisher, London Midland’s head of regional services, said: “The new station is all about making travel simpler for our passengers. It brings a range of extra benefits, including a staffed ticket office, additional parking and easier connections to local bus services.”
(Image c. London Midland)
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