University railway station (England)

Located on the former Birmingham West Suburban Railway, University station was built in 1977–8 to the designs of the architect John Broome[1] as part of the upgrade of the Cross City line.[2] The station was opened by William Rodgers, the Secretary of State for Transport, on 8 May 1978. It is a short distance away from the former Somerset Road station which closed in the 1930s. The station is part built on the site of the ancient Metchley Roman Fort. The Cross-City Line was electrified in 1993 and the current Class 323 electric multiple units were introduced by British Rail on local services.

In 2017, it was announced that University railway station would receive up to £10 million as an improvement fund to enhance passenger experience and reduce overcrowding, as part of the Government's Midlands Engine Strategy.[3]

Pedestrian access is via University Road West, close to the Medical School and bus interchange - around 330 yards (300 m) uphill from University Square. Owing to the station's campus location on a service road there is no car parking, although nearby Selly Oak station is a designated Park and Ride station.[4] The station is alongside the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, a popular cycling and jogging route. Access is at street level as there is a fence between Platform 2 and the towpath.

On the concourse are two automated ticket machines and two windowed ticket booths, staffed all day Monday to Saturday and from 9:20 on Sundays. There is lift access down to both platforms from the entrance.[5] Platform 2 has a covered waiting room. Fare control is enforced by a line of automatic ticket barriers installed in April 2009, as at Five Ways station.

A Centro livery Class 323 arriving at University in 2007

A West Midlands Railway Class 323 to Redditch departs University in 2021

The station is served by West Midlands Railway with local Cross-City Line services operated by Class 323 electric multiple units. West Midlands Trains longer-distance services to Hereford and CrossCountry services to Cardiff and Nottingham are operated by air-conditioned Turbostar diesel multiple units.

University station is the seventh busiest station in the Transport for West Midlands region in terms of passenger numbers, and the busiest without a direct link to London. Just under four million passenger journeys were made to and from the station in the periods 2018–19 and 2019-20.

The typical off-peak weekday service, in trains per hour (tph) is:[6][7][8]

Platform 2 (Southbound)

Weekday services from this platform include:

West Midlands Railway:

• 2tph to Bromsgrove.
• 2tph to Redditch.
• 1tph to Hereford via Bromsgrove and Worcester Foregate Street. In the peak, there are some additional trains (1tph) to Worcester Shrub Hill via Great Malvern.

CrossCountry:

• 1tph to Cardiff Central via Cheltenham Spa, Gloucester and Newport

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Five Ways		West Midlands Railway Lichfield - Four Oaks - Birmingham - Bromsgrove/Redditch Cross-City Line		Selly Oak
Birmingham New Street		West Midlands Railway Birmingham - Bromsgrove - Worcester - Hereford		Bromsgrove or Droitwich Spa or Barnt Green
Birmingham New Street		CrossCountry Cardiff - Nottingham		Worcestershire Parkway

There is level access from the street to the ticket office and footbridge. Lifts provide access to both platforms from the footbridge. The station has a wide ticket gate which wheelchair users can use unaided.

In July 2019, West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM)[9] announced plans to redevelop the station in order to accommodate increasing passenger numbers generally and those arising from the upcoming 2022 Commonwealth Games, of which two events will be held at venues on the University of Birmingham campus.[10] The upgrades are intended to allow the station, originally designed for approximately 500,000 passengers a year, to handle more than 7 million passengers annually.[11]

The plans include:[11]

• construction of a new, larger station building at the north end of the platforms.
• widening of the platforms to alleviate crowding during peak times.
• a footbridge over the canal linking the new station to the university campus.
• a new public space around the approach to the new building.

On 22 July 2020, Minister of State for Transport Chris Heaton-Harris announced £12 million of government funding towards the expected £56 million cost of the project.[12] The remaining £44 million is to be funded by a consortium comprising the University of Birmingham, Birmingham City Council, Network Rail, West Midlands Trains and the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP.[12]

• Train times and station information for University railway station (England) from National Rail

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University (Birmingham) railway station.

• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: University railway station