Birmingham Moor Street railway station
Encyclopedia
Birmingham Moor Street railway station is one of three main railway stations in the city centre of Birmingham
, England
. The Grade II listed old station building has been partially renovated to its 1930s condition at a cost of £11 million.
to relieve traffic on its two-track tunnel under central Birmingham to Birmingham Snow Hill. It was a terminus for trains from Leamington Spa
, and in particular those via Stratford-upon-Avon
(then a main line). It was opened with temporary buildings in July 1909, and permanent buildings were completed in 1914. The station and goods yard were on Moor Street, on the western side of the entrance to Snow Hill tunnel, but the through tracks to Snow Hill were not provided with platforms.
Sunday trains at Moor Street began for the first time when Snow Hill was reopened in the mid-1980s. Before then, Sunday trains ran through the tunnel to Snow Hill station instead (pre 1967/8). With the Snow Hill tunnel closure in 1968, these trains were diverted into New Street.
The incomplete viaduct visible from Moor Street turning towards Birmingham Curzon Street is the original intended route of the line. A product of inter-company rivalry, the viaduct was never used, and the GWR was forced to build the route through to Snow Hill in the 1850s.
, but capacity at New Street was not sufficient, so it survived as a terminus for local trains. Most services running through Moor Street to Birmingham Snow Hill were withdrawn in 1967 and the goods yard was turned into a car park. Main line services from London Paddington were diverted via a junction near Bordesley into New Street, as were some local services. By the 1980s Moor Street served only local passenger trains on the lines to Stratford-upon-Avon
and Leamington Spa
.
, Clun Castle
.
The original station, a Grade II listed building, was not demolished, but by the late 1990s, cracks in the wall were visible from the road side, not least those caused by the impact of a runaway bus.
During the 1990s, limited stop Network South East services were introduced from London Marylebone
to Snow Hill via Banbury
and Leamington Spa, thus making Moor Street a main line station. In the 1960s, London services from Snow Hill ran to Paddington rather than Marylebone.
at a cost of £11 million, and connected to the through platforms. The 1980s new main entrance was demolished, and a new passenger access created using the old station's ticket hall. The through platforms received Great Western style canopies and a footbridge to match the older parts of the station. However, the old terminal platforms were not cleared for traffic, and remained out of service pending a decision on their use.
Refurbished in 1930s style, the station has reproduction lamps, clock, seating, and signage. The renovation won the Railway Heritage Trust award for 2004 and The Birmingham Civic Society's Renaissance Award for 2005. The station became home to the cosmetically-restored second GWR 2884 Class
2-8-0 No. 2885 which now stands in the disused platform five.
and Henley-in-Arden
to Stratford-upon-Avon
and to Leamington spa
via Solihull
. It is also served by services to Worcester Shrub Hill via Stourbridge Junction and Kiderminster
and Chiltern Clubman
services to London Marylebone. 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.
The signposted route for passengers travelling between New Street and Moor Street stations involves a five-minute walk through a tunnel under the Bullring shopping centre. Although the railway lines into New Street pass directly underneath Moor Street station, there is no track connection.
refused permission for the connection of the restored tracks unless the work was paid for without recourse to public funds.
In 2007 the station faced a new lease of life with proposals to reintroduce services along the Camp Hill Line towards Kings Norton
including stations at Moseley
, Kings Heath
and Hazelwell
. This would provide three or four trains per hour into the terminal platforms at Moor Street.
These proposed services first require the building of a chord linking the Camp Hill Line to the Chiltern Main Line
and Moor Street. If this proposal goes ahead then it has been speculated that further local services to Tamworth and along a reopened Sutton Park Line will begin and terminate at Moor Street.
Since the December 2010 timetable change, two of the three south facing bay platforms at Moor Street station are now connected to the network and in use, enabling some of the Chiltern services to and from London Marylebone to terminate at Moor Street instead of Snow Hill. Local Chiltern stopping services to Leamington Spa will also begin and terminate at the new terminal platforms. Chiltern Railways are engaged in a large scale redevelopment of their route from London Marylebone to Birmingham with improvements to allow higher speeds. A fast train service between Moor Street and London Marylebone was introduced on the 5th September 2011 using locomotive-hauled coaches, furthering the competition with Virgin Trains' West Coast Main Line
services from Birmingham New Street.
The High Speed 2
terminus in Birmingham is planned to be built on an adjacent site and will likely be linked to Moor Street, though have a separate name (either Fazeley Street or Curzon Street). The station and high-speed line is proposed to be completed by the mid-2020s.
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The Grade II listed old station building has been partially renovated to its 1930s condition at a cost of £11 million.
Early history
Moor Street was built by the Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
to relieve traffic on its two-track tunnel under central Birmingham to Birmingham Snow Hill. It was a terminus for trains from Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
, and in particular those via Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
(then a main line). It was opened with temporary buildings in July 1909, and permanent buildings were completed in 1914. The station and goods yard were on Moor Street, on the western side of the entrance to Snow Hill tunnel, but the through tracks to Snow Hill were not provided with platforms.
Sunday trains at Moor Street began for the first time when Snow Hill was reopened in the mid-1980s. Before then, Sunday trains ran through the tunnel to Snow Hill station instead (pre 1967/8). With the Snow Hill tunnel closure in 1968, these trains were diverted into New Street.
The incomplete viaduct visible from Moor Street turning towards Birmingham Curzon Street is the original intended route of the line. A product of inter-company rivalry, the viaduct was never used, and the GWR was forced to build the route through to Snow Hill in the 1850s.
Decay
Moor Street was a closure target during the Beeching AxeBeeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
, but capacity at New Street was not sufficient, so it survived as a terminus for local trains. Most services running through Moor Street to Birmingham Snow Hill were withdrawn in 1967 and the goods yard was turned into a car park. Main line services from London Paddington were diverted via a junction near Bordesley into New Street, as were some local services. By the 1980s Moor Street served only local passenger trains on the lines to Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
and Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
.
Relocation
In the mid 1980s funding became available to re-open a station at Birmingham Snow Hill, and the southern access tracks under Birmingham city centre. As part of the 'Snow Hill Phase One' scheme, a new Moor Street station, with through platforms, was built at the southern portal of the restored Snow Hill tunnel. On completion of this project, the original Moor Street terminus was declared surplus to requirements, and closed down. The final train, on 26 September 1987, was a steam special hauled by a locomotive from Birmingham Railway MuseumBirmingham Railway Museum
Tyseley Locomotive Works is the museum and engineering arm of the Birmingham Railway Museum Trust, based in Birmingham, England. It occupies part of the former Great Western Railway's depot, which was constructed in 1908 as a result of expanding operations in the West Midlands, particularly the...
, Clun Castle
GWR 4073 Class 7029 Clun Castle
7029 Clun Castle was built to the Great Western Railway Castle Class design by the Western Region of British Railways at Swindon Works in May 1950 and was named after Clun Castle. Its first shed allocation was Newton Abbot. It had a double chimney and a 4 row superheater fitted in October 1959...
.
The original station, a Grade II listed building, was not demolished, but by the late 1990s, cracks in the wall were visible from the road side, not least those caused by the impact of a runaway bus.
During the 1990s, limited stop Network South East services were introduced from London Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
to Snow Hill via Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
and Leamington Spa, thus making Moor Street a main line station. In the 1960s, London services from Snow Hill ran to Paddington rather than Marylebone.
Restoration
In 2002 the original Moor Street station was renovated by the Birmingham Alliance and Chiltern RailwaysChiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...
at a cost of £11 million, and connected to the through platforms. The 1980s new main entrance was demolished, and a new passenger access created using the old station's ticket hall. The through platforms received Great Western style canopies and a footbridge to match the older parts of the station. However, the old terminal platforms were not cleared for traffic, and remained out of service pending a decision on their use.
Refurbished in 1930s style, the station has reproduction lamps, clock, seating, and signage. The renovation won the Railway Heritage Trust award for 2004 and The Birmingham Civic Society's Renaissance Award for 2005. The station became home to the cosmetically-restored second GWR 2884 Class
GWR 2884 Class
The Great Western Railway 2884 Class is a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotive designed for heavy freight work. They were a development of the earlier 2800 Class. The 2884s differed from the original engines in a number of respects, the most obvious being that a more modern Collett side window cab was...
2-8-0 No. 2885 which now stands in the disused platform five.
Current services
Moor Street is currently served by local trains the lines through ShirleyShirley railway station
Shirley railway station serves Shirley area of Solihull in the West Midlands of England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by London Midland.-History:The station was built in 1908, complete with small goods yard with goods shed...
and Henley-in-Arden
Henley-in-Arden railway station
Henley-in-Arden, a small town in Warwickshire, has had two railway stations. The , opened in 1894, was at the end of the 3.25 mile long Birmingham and Henley in Arden Railway Company branch line from the GWR's main Oxford to Birmingham Railway line at Rowington Junction.The , the one familiar to us...
to Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon railway station
Stratford-upon-Avon railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. It was once a through station on the Great Western Railway route from Birmingham to Cheltenham, but has been the terminus of the line since 1976.There are plans for a new...
and to Leamington spa
Leamington Spa railway station
Leamington Spa railway station serves the town of Leamington Spa, in Warwickshire, England. It is situated on Old Warwick Road towards the southern edge of the town centre.-History:...
via Solihull
Solihull railway station
Solihull railway station serves the town of Solihull in the West Midlands of England. The station is served by London Midland and Chiltern Railways. CrossCountry serve the station occasionally, when replacing stops at Coventry and Birmingham International during engineering work...
. It is also served by services to Worcester Shrub Hill via Stourbridge Junction and Kiderminster
Kidderminster railway station
Kidderminster railway station is the main station serving the large town of Kidderminster, Worcestershire. The station is operated by London Midland.-Facilities:...
and Chiltern Clubman
British Rail Class 168
The Class 168 Clubman is a diesel multiple-unit train used on services between London and the Midlands.-Description:The units were built in several batches from 1997 onwards. The first batch of units was classified 168/0 under TOPS and resembled the Class 165 units previously built by BREL at York...
services to London Marylebone. 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
Tyseley
Tyseley is a district in the southern half of the city of Birmingham, England, near the Coventry Road and the districts of Small Heath and Yardley...
for Vintage Trains.
The signposted route for passengers travelling between New Street and Moor Street stations involves a five-minute walk through a tunnel under the Bullring shopping centre. Although the railway lines into New Street pass directly underneath Moor Street station, there is no track connection.
Future
The growth of services through Snow Hill and the re-commencement of services via Snow Hill to again strained the capacity of the tunnel to Snow Hill. Widening this tunnel is impractical due to the cost and would require the demolition of prime city centre buildings unless the tunnel base level is reduced. Thus 'the wheel has turned full circle' and Network Rail has restored the tracks into the old station for terminating local trains and for steam specials. This was originally planned for 2005 but in July 2005 was postponed until late 2006 due to delays in necessary engineering and signalling works before the connection could be made. In June 2006, the Department for TransportDepartment for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
refused permission for the connection of the restored tracks unless the work was paid for without recourse to public funds.
In 2007 the station faced a new lease of life with proposals to reintroduce services along the Camp Hill Line towards Kings Norton
Kings Norton railway station
Kings Norton railway station serves the Kings Norton and Cotteridge areas of Birmingham, England. It lies on Cross-City Line from Redditch through Birmingham New Street to Lichfield. The station's main entrance is located on Pershore Road South, the A441....
including stations at Moseley
Moseley railway station
Moseley railway station in Moseley, Birmingham, England, operated from 1867 to 1941. It was opened by the Midland Railway on the Camp Hill Line. A previously named Moseley Station on the same line changed its name to Kings Heath Station upon the opening of the station.There are proposals to reopen...
, Kings Heath
Kings Heath railway station
Kings Heath railway station was a railway station in Kings Heath, Birmingham, England.-History:The station was built on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway's Camp Hill Line, and operated between 1840 and 1941. On opening, it was known as Moseley Station. On the opening of Moseley station proper...
and Hazelwell
Hazelwell railway station
Hazelwell was a railway station on the Camp Hill Line in Birmingham, England. It was built in 1903, between the existing Kings Heath and Lifford stations....
. This would provide three or four trains per hour into the terminal platforms at Moor Street.
These proposed services first require the building of a chord linking the Camp Hill Line to the Chiltern Main Line
Chiltern Main Line
The Chiltern Main Line is an inter-urban, regional and commuter railway, part of the British railway system. It links London and Birmingham on a 112-mile route via the towns of High Wycombe, Banbury, and Leamington Spa...
and Moor Street. If this proposal goes ahead then it has been speculated that further local services to Tamworth and along a reopened Sutton Park Line will begin and terminate at Moor Street.
Since the December 2010 timetable change, two of the three south facing bay platforms at Moor Street station are now connected to the network and in use, enabling some of the Chiltern services to and from London Marylebone to terminate at Moor Street instead of Snow Hill. Local Chiltern stopping services to Leamington Spa will also begin and terminate at the new terminal platforms. Chiltern Railways are engaged in a large scale redevelopment of their route from London Marylebone to Birmingham with improvements to allow higher speeds. A fast train service between Moor Street and London Marylebone was introduced on the 5th September 2011 using locomotive-hauled coaches, furthering the competition with Virgin Trains' West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
services from Birmingham New Street.
The High Speed 2
High Speed 2
High Speed 2 is a proposed high-speed railway between London and the Midlands, the North of England, and potentially at a later stage the central belt of Scotland. The project is being developed by High Speed Two Ltd, a company established by the British government...
terminus in Birmingham is planned to be built on an adjacent site and will likely be linked to Moor Street, though have a separate name (either Fazeley Street or Curzon Street). The station and high-speed line is proposed to be completed by the mid-2020s.
See also
- Transport in BirminghamTransport in BirminghamBirmingham is a major transport hub, due in part to its location in central England. Public transport in the city is overseen by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive whose public brand is Centro/Network West Midlands.-Railways:-History:...
- West Midlands Passenger Transport ExecutiveWest Midlands Passenger Transport ExecutiveThe West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive , sometimes known as Centro, is a local government organisation responsible for certain transport services in the West Midlands county in England....
- Birmingham Snow Hill stationBirmingham Snow Hill stationBirmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England, on the site of an earlier, much larger station built by the former Great Western Railway . It is the second most important railway station in the city, after Birmingham New Street station...
- Birmingham International railway stationBirmingham International railway stationBirmingham International railway station is located in the borough of Solihull, just east of the city of Birmingham in England.The station is on the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line 14 km east of Birmingham New Street and serves both Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition...
- Birmingham New Street stationBirmingham New Street StationBirmingham New Street is the main railway station serving Birmingham, England, located in the city centre. It is an important hub for the British railway system, being served by a number of important long-distance and cross-country lines, including the Birmingham loop of the West Coast Main Line,...
- Birmingham to Stratford LineBirmingham to Stratford LineThe Birmingham to Stratford Line, also known as the North Warwickshire Line is a commuter railway line predominantly in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom...
