University railway station serves the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Women's Hospital, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the West Midlands of England. It is on the Cross-City Line, which runs from Redditch and Bromsgrove to Lichfield via Birmingham New Street. Most services are operated by West Midlands Railway who manage the station, but some are operated by CrossCountry.
The station is the only main line railway station in Great Britain built specifically to serve a university.
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 partly 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 the 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]
In July 2019, West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM)[4] announced plans to redevelop the station in order to accommodate increasing passenger numbers generally and those arising from the 2022 Commonwealth Games, of which two events were held at venues on the University of Birmingham campus.[5] 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.[6] It is one of the busiest railway stations in the West Midlands region; as of 2024[update], 3.5 million people use the station annually.[7]
The plans included:[6]
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.[8] The remaining £44 million was 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.[8]
Construction work took place from 2021 to 2024. The architects were Associated Architects and the contractor was VolkerFitzpatrick.[9] The extended platforms were opened in time for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in July 2022, and the new buildings were opened on 28 January 2024. [10] Numerous other facilities within the station were improved, replaced, or expanded. The widths of the platforms were doubled and equipped with a canopy for sun and rain protection, and the landcasping was improved.[11][7]
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.[12] 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.[13] Platform 2 has a covered waiting room. Fare control is enforced by a line of automatic ticket barriers installed in April 2009, at Five Ways station.
The station is served by West Midlands Trains with local Transport for West Midlands branded "Cross-City" services, operated by Class 323 and Class 730 Electric multiple units.[14][15]
West Midlands Railway's longer-distance services to Hereford are operated using Class 196 diesel multiple units (DMUs)[16] and CrossCountry services to Cardiff and Nottingham are operated by Class 170 DMUs.[17][18]
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:[19][20][21]
All services from Platform 1 stop at Birmingham New Street with an average journey time of around 7 minutes.
Services from this platform include:
On Mondays to Saturdays:
West Midlands Railway:
CrossCountry:
On Sundays:
West Midlands Railway:
CrossCountry:
Weekday services from this platform include:
West Midlands Railway:
CrossCountry:
On Sundays:
West Midlands Railway:
CrossCountry:
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.
