REDEVELOPMENT of one of the West Midlands’ busiest railway stations, University, on the busy Cross-City line, is moving towards completion later this year.
The £56m project to vastly improve passenger facilities at the station – first opened in May 1978 – is being driven by expansion at both the University of Birmingham and the nearby University Hospital Birmingham as part of regenerating the surrounding area. Situated just 2½ miles from New Street station, it is the seventh busiest station in the West Midlands.
Originally designed to handle around 400,000 passengers annually, in 2019/20 the station saw 3.97m passengers, almost ten times what was envisaged.
The project to redevelop the station was first announced back in 2017 when the Government pledged up to £10m to help combat overcrowding, as part of the Government’s Midlands Engine Strategy.