Along The Cross-City Line
The Cross-City Line stretches across Birmingham between Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch stations, calling in the city centre at New Street. There pictures are from Wednesday’s trip from Lichfield into the centre.
And these are some images from between New Street and Redditch.
The line has the feel and in some cases look of the London Overground, except that a lot of the stations were obviously built using a kit of standard parts.
The Cross-City Line has an advantage that a lot of the London Overground would like – Space and platforms long enough for more than six carriages.
If I have a criticism of the Cross-City Line, it is that it doesn’t have enough stations in the city centre, with too much reliance on the busy New Street. As the line passes underneath Moor Street and through important areas east and west of the major station, surely a couple of extra stations would make the line much more customer-friendly. Especially, if it could link up better with the Midland Metro.
, The frequency is higher than the London Overground’s four trains an hour, which is becoming the accepted lower limit for a Metro service.
Camp Hill Line
There are aspirations to incorporate the Camp Hill Line into the system, to effectively give another East-West route, south of the city centre. With the West Midlands getting responsibility for transport in the next few years, this will happen. But if you look at Birmingham’s rail lines, history says, it might not be done in the obvious way, but in something much better.
According to Wikipedia, the Council is talking about a three trains per hour service between reopened platforms at Kings Norton and Moor Street.
Without doubt in Germany, this service would be operated by tram-trains, which on arriving at Moor Street would join the Midland Metro. This Google Map shows Moor Street station.
Could The Metro Squeeze Through Here?
It is a tight area, but then so it was at Snow Hill and they have got the Midland Metro through that concrete jungle.
Sutton Park Line
The Sutton Park Line is another aspiration of the authorities for opening as a passenger route between Rugeley and Water Orton. At its northern end, it will connect to the route between Rugeley and Walsall, which is currently being electrified and at the southern, it will connect to the route between New Street and Nuneaton.
The line also crosses the Cross-City Line at Sutton Coldfield. This map show the two-level crossing.
Sutton Park And Cross-City Lines
So is there scope for a new interchange station here. Only traffic statistics will know.
But above all the future for the Cross-City Line must be very bright, even if the direction of expansion has yet to be decided.
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