A £185m project to build five new stations on the West Midlands Railway (WMR) commuter network serving Birmingham was completed on April 7, when WMR services began calling at three new stations on the Camp Hill Line between Birmingham New Street and Kings Norton.
Built by VolkerFitzpatrick, the new stations at Moseley Village, Kings Heath, and Pineapple Road, serving Stirchley, have been constructed on the sites of stations closed in 1941 as a wartime economy measure.
Services between Birmingham New Street and Kings Norton run every 30 minutes from Monday to Saturday, and hourly on Sundays. They are operated with class 196 DMUs introduced by WMR in 2022.
The reopening of the Camp Hill Line to local passengers traffic follows the opening on March 19 of new stations at Willenhall and Darlaston on the line between Tame Bridge Parkway and Wolverhampton, built by Kier on the sites of stations closed in 1965.
WMR Birmingham New Street - Shrewsbury services call at the new stations every hour, and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) says it is working to secure additional regular services.
The new stations project has been led by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), part of WMCA, and the West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE), working in partnership with infrastructure manager Network Rail, WMR, Birmingham City Council, Walsall Council, and the Department for Transport (DfT).
DfT has provided £126m for the project. An additional £30m to complete work on the Camp Hill Line was secured by the mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, following a review of transport projects undertaken after he took up office in 2024.
“Restoring passenger services to the Camp Hill Line isn’t just about shorter journey times,” says TfWM executive director, Sandeep Shingadia.
“It’s about easing congestion on our roads, cutting carbon emissions and opening up new economic opportunities across the region.”
Northumberland Line
Following authorisation by rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), Northern services began calling at Bedlington in northeast England on March 29. This is the sixth and final new station to open on the Northumberland Line between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Ashington which reopened to passenger traffic on December 15 2024.
Northern reports that 1.3 million passenger-journeys have been made so far on the Northumberland Line, where two services operate every hour from Monday to Saturday in the daytime and hourly in the evenings and on Sundays.
“The line is already an outstanding success - delivering faster, more reliable journeys, and unlocking economic growth in the northeast by better connecting communities to jobs, education, and opportunities,” says rail minister, Lord Peter Hendy.
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