Birmingham MPs Al Carns and Laurence Turner met with Midlands Connect and other rail chiefs at Kings Norton station to discuss how plans for the Midlands Rail Hub could benefit their constituencies. The MPs for Birmingham Selly Oak and Birmingham Northfield were told that local stations, including Kings Norton, will see a train every ten minutes on the Cross City line, boosting connectivity in Birmingham.
As part of the Midlands Rail Hub, trains to Longbridge, Northfield, Kings Norton, Bournville and Selly Oak will create a ‘turn up and go’ London-style service and create 5 million extra seats every year.
As part of the project, Kings Norton station will be upgraded, and the currently derelict island platform will be re-instated. The station’s accessibility will also be upgraded and a brand-new footbridge connecting all platforms will be installed.
Al and Laurence were given a tour of the station and discussed the plans with rail bosses. The Midlands Rail Hub is the flagship scheme of Midlands Connect and when delivered in full, the Hub will see services on several routes increase by between 50% and 100%. At the event, they were joined by Network Rail's Central Route Director Denise Wetton and Jamie Ainsworth, Health, Safety, Security & Environment Director at West Midlands Railway.
Midlands Rail Hub will also deliver quicker journeys into central Birmingham for the forthcoming two train per hour Camp Hill line service from Kings Norton to New Street via the new stations currently under construction at Pineapple Road, Kings Heath and Moseley Village. The project allows the Camp Hill services to run into Birmingham Moor St, which is a shorter route and provides better access to future HS2 services at Curzon Street.
At the meeting, Midlands Connect, Al Carns MP and Laurence Turner MP were also joined by representatives from West Midlands Rail Executive led by Toby Rackliff which is sponsoring the construction of the new Camp Hill Line stations and is a partner in the Midlands Rail Hub project.
The project will also deliver a jobs boost as over the course of the project, more than 12,750 roles are expected to result from the Midlands Rail Hub programme.
Last year, the previous Government committed to ‘full’ delivery of the Midlands Rail Hub, and in February this year, an additional £123m was allocated towards the project, to progress the detailed engineering designs.
Mike Bull, Programme Director of Midlands Connect, said:
“Creating a service every ten minutes for thousands of passengers in Birmingham is a key part of the Midlands Rail Hub.”
“It will make commuting easier and create a turn-up-and-go line. We can do this due to the extra capacity that the Midlands Rail Hub creates.
“It was great to meet Al and Laurence and brief them on the plans and show them how our work will deliver real benefits for their areas and their constituents. We are working at pace to finish the Full Business Case and deliver these much-needed upgrades to Kings Norton, which is at the heart of the Midlands Rail Hub project.
“I look forward to working with Laurence and Al in the months and years ahead to deliver this vital scheme for the region."
Photo credit: Network Rail
