Work to improve the rail network between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove will increase over the coming weeks and months as part of a £100m investment to provide a better railway.
Network Rail and its partners Centro and Worcestershire County Council will be completing a range of improvements from a new pedestrian footbridge at Barnt Green station to a new station in Bromsgrove. The railway in between the two will also be electrified and resignalled to help provide an improved and more frequent service to complement the new facilities.
The work represents the biggest investment in transport in the Bromsgrove area since the M42 motorway was built and the result will be a modern railway station with a frequent service to Birmingham and beyond.
The new Bromsgrove station will be served by a new extended electric Cross-City line train service between Bromsgrove, Birmingham New Street, Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield, with four trains per hour each way on weekdays compared to the current one train per hour service today.
Thanks to improvements completed on the line to Redditch, Barnt Green is already seeing more trains calling at the station with three trains per hour stopping in each direction. This will rise to four trains per hour in December 2016.
When complete the new Bromsgrove station will have four longer platforms, step-free access, a 350 space car park and a bus interchange. It is due to open in 2015.
Liam Sumpter, area director for Network Rail, said:
“This work is part of a £100m investment in the railway in north Worcestershire which will provide a better railway for passengers. It is important that we continue to invest in the rail network to meet the increasing demands being placed on it and provide the best level of service to passengers that we can.
“We have worked closely with our partners to plan and implement the upgrades to cause the least disruption and will do all we can to keep noise and inconvenience to a minimum.”
Mark Goodall, head of London Midland’s Cross City Services, said:
“Demand for rail services continues to grow. The number of passenger journeys on London Midland services has increased by a third in the last seven years. Extending the Cross City line and electrifying the service to a new station at Bromsgrove will be a welcome boost for local rail users.”
To deliver the improvements, there will be some short-term disruption as the work takes place but everything will be done to minimise this as much as possible.
Road diversions will be in place in the Barnt Green area between January and May 2015 when three road bridges are rebuilt to accommodate an electrified railway underneath.
Work will also take place at Bromsgrove station from late Christmas Eve until the start of normal service on 27 December as Network Rail makes use of the railway being closed to carry out track work and make excavations ahead of work taking place through 2015. Much of the intrusive work will take place during the day but it is unavoidable that some will happen over night. Measures such as acoustic fencing and straw bales to absorb noise will be put in place to mitigate against this as much as possible.
Work to electrify the railway between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove will take place from February 2015 to spring 2016. People living alongside the railway will be written to in advance to make them aware of the dates and times for this work and any other which may have noise implications.
The new footbridge will be built at Barnt Green station between February and June 2015. The current bridge will remain in place throughout and be removed once the new one is installed.
Source| Network Rail
