Railway stations in Birmingham city centre

Birmingham City Centre is served by three major railway stations; New Street, Moor Street and Snow Hill. Birmingham New Street is at the heart of the UK rail network and is the city's major railway hub with direct links to all other major cities in Great Britain. Birmingham Moor Street and Birmingham Snow Hill serve local destinations in Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands and also have a link with London. Birmingham New Street is managed and operated by Network Rail, Birmingham Moor Street is managed and operated by Chiltern Railways and Birmingham Snow Hill is managed and operated by London Midland. These three stations form the Birmingham Stations station group, a notional common station for ticketing purposes.

There are two other railway stations in central Birmingham, namely Five Ways in the south west of the city centre with connections on the New Street to Redditch line, and Jewellery Quarter in the north west of the city centre with connections on the Snow Hill to Worcester line and the Midland Metro.

Birmingham International railway station is not located in the city centre, but approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) east by the airport and National Exhibition Centre.

Connections

Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street are connected by a tunnel which is located beneath Birmingham city centre. There are frequent train services between the two stations. Birmingham New Street is not connected to Snow Hill or Moor Street by rail, but is approximately a half mile walk from Snow Hill^[1] and a quarter mile walk from Moor Street.^[2] Rail passengers connecting between New Street and services on the Snow Hill/Moor Street route are generally advised to make their connection via Moor Street.

There are currently no direct bus connections between the three stations, but expansion plans for Midland Metro City Centre line will see the Metro extended from its current terminus at Snow Hill to a new terminus at New Street, meaning a regular tram connection will exist between the two stations.

Birmingham New street and Moor Street are close to the major shopping centres in the city including The Pallasades, Birmingham Bullring and The Paviilions.

All three stations have a good interchange with bus services mostly operated by Travel West Midlands.

Services

Birmingham New Street

Train

Virgin Trains

• Operates 3tph to London Euston some of which start at Wolverhapton using tilting Class 390 Pendolinos.
• Operates 1tph to Glasgow Central or Edinburgh Waverley using tilting Class 221 Super Voyagers.

CrossCountry

• 1tph from Birmingham New Street to Stansted Airport via Leicester and Peterborough using Class 170 Turbostars.
• 1tph from Cardiff Central to Nottingham via Derby using Class 170 Turbostars.
• 1tph from Edinburgh Waverley via Leeds to Plymouth using Voyagers and HSTs.
• 1tph from Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth using Class 220/221 Voyagers.
• 1tph from Manchester Piccadilly to Bristol Temple Meads using Class 220/221 Voyagers.
• 1tph from Newcastle via Doncaster to Reading using Class 220/221 Voyagers.

Some services continue towards Aberdeen, Guildford and Penzance.

London Midland

• Frequent Cross City services from Wolverhampton to Coventry/Northampton and from Litchfield to Redditch using Class 323 and Class 350 Desiro electric units.
• Local services to Hereford, Rugeley, Shrewsbury, Walsall and Worcester using Class 150 and Class 170 Turbostars.
• Regional services to London Euston via Northampton using Class 321 and Class 350 Desiros.
• 2 tph from Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street via Crewe using Class 350 Desiros.

Arriva Trains Wales

• 1tph alternate from Birmingham International to Aberystwyth/Pwllheli and Holyhead using Class 158 diesel multiple units.

Birmingham Moor Street

The two through platforms at Moor Street

Moor Street is currently served by local trains the lines through Shirley and Henley-in-Arden to Stratford-upon-Avon and to Leamington via Solihull, and Chiltern Clubman services to London Marylebone. Chiltern also operate a limited number of weekday services from Marylebone terminating at Moor Street formed of class 67 locomotives and hauled coaching stock. On summer Sundays it is used by steam locomotives running tourist specials between Snow Hill and Stratford upon Avon and trains between Snow Hill and Tyseley for Vintage Trains.

Birmingham Snow Hill

Long distance services

Snow Hill is the principal destination of the Chiltern Main Line, which links Birmingham with London Marylebone, operated by Chiltern Railways, with some Chiltern services continuing to Kidderminster.

• 1tph to London Marylebone via High Wycombe (2tph in peaks)

Local services

Local services from Snow Hill, as with most other local services in the West Midlands, are supported by CENTRO, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive. They are operated by London Midland and mostly by Class 150 diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains, with some Class 153 DMUs. The Class 150 units are due to be replaced with new Class 172 DMUs during the next year. Until 2005 there was an hourly local train to Leamington Spa; this was cut back to peak times only and the rest of the services are now run by Chiltern Railways. There is also an irregular service to Stratford upon Avon via Dorridge and irregular services to Great Malvern and Hereford.

• 3tph to Whitlocks End of which 1tph continues to Stratford upon Avon
• 3tph to Dorridge
• 6tph to Stourbridge Junction of which 4tph continue to Kidderminster with 2tph continuing to Worcester

Metro

References

• http://centro.journalistpresslounge.com/centro/news/index.cfm/fuseaction/details/id/BE043D85-13D3-97AA-2D4BEE37003FF84F/cnt/1/ref/main/type/News%20releases/ses/1.cfm

1. Map of route from Snow Hill to New Street station (walking) (Map). Google Maps.
2. Map of route from New Street to Moor Street station (walking) (Map). Google Maps.

External links

• Network Rail website
• London Midland official website
• Chiltern Railways official home page
• CrossCountry official website
• Arriva Trains Wales official website
• Virgin Trains web site
• National Express West Midlands website
• http://www.nationalexpress.com/metro - midland metro homepage