University expands by many degrees

Thursday 7th March 2024

The £56 million project to greatly increase the capacity of the West Midlands railway station called simply University has been completed with the new station opening at the end of January.

It’s an impressive transformation.

There’s no comparison to the cramped conditions of the old station with two newly constructed massive buildings, one alongside each platform.

The new pavilions (they’re so big, that’s what they’re being called) make the original station’s minimal infrastructure (as shown above and below) and downgraded to an exit only appendage …

… at the southern end of the platforms look as though it’s from a different era, which it is.

Opened in 1978, the station was designed to handle 500,000 passenger journeys a year but by 2019 numbers using the station had grown to more than three million, making it busier than Crewe all using one narrow footbridge and stairs as shown below at the southern end of the platforms.

The six-trains-an-hour station is located south of Birmingham New Street (after the station at Five Ways) on the Cross City line. West Midlands Railway provides five trains an hour in each direction (two south to Bromsgrove, two to Redditch and one to Hereford and two north to Lichfield Trent Valley, two to Four Oaks and one to New Street) along with hourly Cross Country trains on the Cardiff to Nottingham route.

As well as the University of Birmingham’s large campus located on the east side of the station there’s the huge Queen Elizabeth Hospital complex and medical school on the west side with both sites having plans for significant growth in the years ahead including the establishment of a life sciences campus.

As you can see on the above map the station is located alongside the Worcester & Birmingham Canal as well as the site of Metchley Roman Fort (dating back to 48AD) both of which added many challenges to the construction project which began in 2021. The contractor, VolkerFitzpatrick, had to employ an archaeologist on site whenever excavation was taking place,

The resultant new station, with its two widened and lengthened platforms, has 13 times the floor space compared to the old, offering a capacity for seven million passenger journeys so will be fit for many years of growth ahead.

Pavilion One, on the west side, includes provision for a large NHS facility possibly housing a diagnostics centre and vaccination hub. At the moment the building is empty.

The university is planning to make full use of the new facility as well as making the station feel part of the adjacent campus including adding its branding to the station which can already be seen on the southbound platform 2…

… and on the outside of Pavilion Two on the east side of the station.

Alighting from trains arriving from Birmingham New Street on the southbound platform, if not using the original exit via the old footbridge at the southend end, passengers exit via a gateline at the platform level of Pavilion Two …

… which takes you to a forimidable looking set of stairs ….

… either directly on to the university campus on the east side of the station from a mezzanine level…

… obviously there are lifts too – it’s all fully accessible – (but there are no escalators).

That exit is described as ‘ground level’ as it takes you via a footbridge on to the University campus…

… and gives a nice view of Pavilion Two looking back.

As you can see you can use those steps to reach the high level footbridge (or couild have continued walking up the stairs inside the building) to cross the foorbridge and reach Pavilion One on the west side on the northbound platform. This brings you to the yet-to-be-used NHS Services facility and, oddly a double row of about 18 seats…

… as stairs then take you down to the mezzanine level which is actually ground level…

… where the main entrance/exit to the west side can be found (you can see the stairs continue down to platform level in the above photo), together with a ticket office (hooray) and space for a retail unit (under the proposed NHS facility).

As well as lots of stairs there are also lots of seats. In addition to the row of 36 already shown, each platform has two enclosed waiting rooms with another long row…

… and there are other seats to be found dotted around Pavilion One.

There’s an assortment of toilet cubicles all labelled for these enlightened times we now live in …

Departure signs are very clear, both in the entrance hall…

… and on the platforms.

The usual sign giving information about the station has had a revamp…

… but the Onward Travel poster is the same old, and I’m not sure whether it’s up to date. They seldom are.

On the southbound platform 2 there’s a small cabin for ‘Passenger Information’ where the dispatchers are based …

… and what looks like space for a retail unit.

Outside there’s a large accessible sign indicating all the facilities available at the station…

… as well as rather stylish open air cycle stands (I assume that’s what they are) …

… and some very attractive public realm, as it’s called these days, including a very long wooden seat facing the medical school and hospital…

… from where you get a good view of the two Pavilions either side of the platforms and can appreciate the sheer scale of what’s been built.

It really is impressive, and if it was all achieved for the original budget of £56 million, good value for money too, compared to many other new stations reviewed on this blog over the last few years. So, well done to everyone involved.

The only disappointment I noticed as I was leaving was the gap between the train and the newly extended platform. Some level boarding Stadler trains are needed, but it’s the Alstom Class 730 trains that are on their way.

Roger French

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