£56m railway station redevelopment gets green light

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has agreed the full business case for the £56m redevelopment of Birmingham University Station.

The current 1970s built station is one of the busiest in the region and badly in need of redevelopment to accommodate the 4m passengers a year who use it, while allowing for future growth.

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), which is part of the WMCA, is leading a consortium including the University of Birmingham, Birmingham City Council, Network Rail, West Midlands Trains and the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP to fund and develop the project.

The new station, along with the provision of extra rolling stock from West Midlands Trains from 2021, will allow even more staff, visitors and students to take the train and avoid traffic queues on the congested A38.

‘I am delighted that the full business case for the new University Station has been approved by the board, meaning we can now get on and start building the new station ready for the Commonwealth Games in 2022,’ said West Midlands mayor, Andy Street.

‘Over the last decade or so we have seen huge growth in both the university campus and the hospital site, making University one of the busiest railway stations on our network – but also in need of a major upgrade.

‘By working collaboratively with partners across the city, in just a few short years we will be able to offer those many millions of passengers a brand new state-of-the-art station, which is fit for purpose,’ added the mayor.

‘Not only is this project a brilliant example of teamwork and our ambition to improve public transport across the West Midlands, but infrastructure investments like these are also going to be critical to the region’s economic recovery from coronavirus.’

Photo Credit – TheDigitalArtist (Pixabay)