Birmingham Moor Street railway station

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Birmingham Moor Street
Location
Place	Birmingham
Local authority	City of Birmingham
Coordinates	52°28′44″N 1°53′35″W / 52.479, -1.893Coordinates: 52°28′44″N 1°53′35″W / 52.479, -1.893
Operations
Managed by	Chiltern Railways
Platforms in use	2 in use
Annual Rail Passenger Usage
2005/06 *	0.246 million
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	West Midlands
Zone	1
History
1909 1914	Opened Current buildings completed
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Birmingham Moor Street from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
UK Railways Portal

Birmingham Moor Street railway station is one of three main railway stations in the city centre of Birmingham, England. The Grade-II listed building has been partially renovated to its 1930s condition at a cost of £11 million.

[edit] Early history

Moor Street was built by the Great Western Railway to relieve pressure on its tunnel under central Birmingham to Birmingham Snow Hill as the railway network grew. It was a terminus for trains from Warwickshire, and in particular those via Stratford-upon-Avon (then a main line). It was opened with temporary buildings in July 1909 and the current buildings were completed in 1914. The station and adjacent goods yard were on Moor Street adjacent to the entrance to Snow Hill tunnel, with warehouses beneath them into which individual wagons were lowered in hydraulic lifts.

The large viaduct visible from Moor Street turning towards Birmingham Curzon Street is the original intended route of the line. A product of dirty political games, the viaduct was never used and the line was forced to take the route through to Snow Hill in the 1850s.

[edit] Decay

Moor Street was initially a closure target during the Beeching Axe. The goods yard was turned into a car park. Most services running through Moor Street to Birmingham Snow Hill were withdrawn in 1967. Main line services from London were diverted via a sharp junction into New Street, as were some local services from Leamington Spa. Capacity at New Street was not sufficient to take all the services, so Moor Street survived as a terminus for local trains. Snow Hill closed completely in 1972.

By the 1980s Moor Street served only local trains on the lines to Stratford-upon-Avon and Leamington Spa.

The last day of service saw a series of steam specials to Knowle and Dorridge, the very last being hauled by 7029 Clun Castle.

150014 at Moor Street

[edit] Relocation

As part of a cross city transport plan for Birmingham a decision was made to re-open Birmingham Snow Hill and restore the train service from Moor Street to Snow Hill. The original Moor Street station location made it impossible to continue using the old station while routing trains through the restored tunnel to Snow Hill. A new station was built on the path of the old lines directly into Snow Hill, allowing commuter services to stop at the new Moor Street and continue onwards to Snow Hill. The new station opened in 1986, with platforms adjacent to the old ones. The old Moor Street closed and the final train was once again hauled by Clun Castle.

The original station was a Grade II listed building and so was not demolished but remained crumbling. By the late 1990s huge cracks in the wall were visible from the road side, not least those caused by the impact of a runaway bus.

During the 1990s services were introduced by Network South East on the previously underused routes from Marylebone station in London to Snow Hill via Banbury, Leamington Spa and Moor Street, thus making Moor Street a mainline station link to London.

[edit] Restoration

HRH The Earl of Wessex unveiling the 2005 Renaissance Award

In 2002 the original Moor Street station was renovated by the Birmingham Alliance and Chiltern at a cost of £11 million, and converted into a shopping and refreshment area connected to the new platforms. The original architecture was preserved and some remaining pieces of the old (demolished) Snow Hill station used to further enhance it. Refurbished in 1930s style, the station now has reproduction lamps, clock, seating but in June 2006 the signage has still had to be completed. Passengers are routed through the old station, which now provides the booking office and ticket area for the new station. Passengers for London-bound trains cross a new footbridge to platform 1. 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 second GWR 2884 Class 2-8-0 No. 2885.

[edit] Current services

The two in use platforms at Moor Street

Moor Street is currently served by local trains the lines through Shirley and Henley-in-Arden to Stratford-upon-Avon and to Leamington via Solihull, 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 biggest city station, Birmingham New Street, is not directly connected to Moor Street, although the line into New Street passes directly under Moor Street. Passengers must make a five-minute well-signposted walk through a tunnel under the Bull Ring mall, or a free link bus or taxi, between the two stations.

[edit] Future

The growth of services through Snow Hill and the re-commencing of services via Snow Hill to Kidderminster is again straining the capacity of the tunnel to Snow Hill. Widening this tunnel is impractical and would require the demolition of prime city centre buildings. Thus the wheel has turned full circle and Network Rail plan to restore 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^[1] due to delays in necessary engineering and signalling works before the connection can be made. In June 2006 the Department for Transport refused permission for the connection of the restored tracks unless the work was paid for without recourse to public funds. Chiltern Railways aim to have the platforms reconnected during 2009.^[2]

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^[3].

[edit] See also

• Birmingham International railway station
• Transport in Birmingham
• West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Birmingham Civic Society
• Vintage Trains page
• Train times and station information for Birmingham Moor Street railway station from National Rail
• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Birmingham Moor Street railway station
• Warwickshire Railways page