University (Birmingham) railway station

University railway station is a railway station serving the University of Birmingham and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the Cross-City Line which runs from Redditch to Lichfield via Birmingham New Street. Most services are operated by London Midland who manage the station, with limited services also operated by CrossCountry.

History

Along with Five Ways station, University station was built in 1978 as part of the upgrade of the Cross-City line. Although this was the first station on the site, it is located a short distance away from the former Somerset Road Station which was closed in the 1930s due to poor patronage. The Cross-City Line was electrified in 1993 and with it brought Class 323 electric multiple units on the local services.

Facilities

Pedestrian access is via University Road West, near to a bus interchange. There are currently no car parking facilities specifically for the station, although nearby Selly Oak station offers 93 free car parking spaces and is a designated Park and Ride station. The station is also situated 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.

The station is the only main line railway station in Great Britain built specifically to serve a university. There is a shop on Platform 1 towards Birmingham, selling drinks and snacks, and a covered waiting room on Platform 2. There are also two automated ticket machines on the concourse and two windowed ticket booths, manned all day Monday to Saturday and from 9:20 on Sundays. There is lift access down to both platforms from the entrance.

University station does not contain ticket barriers, although London Midland have committed to installing automatic ticket gatelines at the station by 2009 to reduce fare evasion and safeguard revenue. There is a manned ticket check during peak hours and daytime.

Services

The station is served by London Midland with local Cross-City Line services operated by 3- or 6-car Class 323 electrical multiple units. London Midland's longer-distance services to Hereford and CrossCountry services to Cardiff and Nottingham are operated by air-conditioned Turbostar diesel multiple units.

University station is the sixth busiest station in the Network West Midlands region in terms of passenger numbers, and the busiest without a direct link to London. Just over one million tickets were sold to and from the station in the year 2005-6.

Typical off-peak weekday service is as follows, in trains per hour (tph):

Platform 1 (Northbound)

All services from Platform 1 stop at Birmingham New Street with an average journey time of 8 minutes.

• 2 to Four Oaks, calling at all stations, operated by London Midland.
• 2 to Lichfield City, calling at all stations except Duddeston, operated by London Midland.
• 2 to Lichfield Trent Valley, calling at all stations except Duddeston and Shenstone, operated by London Midland.
• 1 to Birmingham New Street, non-stop, operated by London Midland.
• 3 per day to Nottingham, operated by CrossCountry. An extra morning service operates to Birmingham New Street.

Platform 2 (Southbound)

• 4 to Longbridge, calling at all stations, operated by London Midland.
• 2 to Redditch, calling at all stations, operated by London Midland.
• 1 to Hereford, calling at Bromsgrove, Droitwich Spa, Worcester Foregate Street and then all stations to Hereford, operated by London Midland.
• 6 per day to Cardiff Central, operated by CrossCountry.

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Gallery

References

External links

• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: University railway station