University Station at the University of Birmingham is now fully open, with passengers able to enter the station via two fantastic new building pavilions. New bridges were designed to span both the live railway line and the Birmingham and Worcester canal. The station is one of the region’s busiest stations with up to 3.5 million passengers a year who, until now, have passed through a station designed and opened in 1978 to accommodate just 700,000 journeys per year. This existing building is being retained as an exit only. The new station will accommodate up to 7.2 million users per year anticipating further growth as a result of the expansion of both the University and the hospital.
The new station also features new wider entrances, stairways and exits serving both the University of Birmingham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, more open space to circulate and wait, lifts to the platforms, a larger ticket office and better customer facilities.
It is designed to offer a vastly improved experience for passengers on the Cross City Line. The main pavilion building also includes space for a café or convenience shop and an NHS facility on the first floor.
The project included a large amount of stakeholders includign Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), and the West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) who have led the development in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the NHS University Hospitals Birmingham Trust, Birmingham City Council, the Department for Transport, Network Rail, West Midlands Trains and Cross Country Trains.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of both the WMCA and WMRE, said:
“Given the millions of people a year the University of Birmingham and QE Hospital collectively draw in, it’s been clear for some time that a new fit-for-purpose station was needed.
“From the outset, the project team have involved partners at the University of Birmingham and the NHS in a collaborative approach that has ensured the building has been designed and delivered to meet their needs.
“It’s good news that we now have a superb gateway for thousands of people arriving at University every day – no longer having to queue on stairs and funnel through what was a fairly tiny building on their way to lectures or hospital appointments. This is a high-quality facility that will serve local people in the months and years ahead.”
