Cross City

The Cross-City line is a suburban railway line predominantly in the West Midlands region of England. It runs from Redditch in Worcestershire, its southern terminus, to Lichfield, Staffordshire, and its northern terminus via Birmingham New Street.

There are 24 four stations in all covering some 30 - 40 miles of countryside, and passes through the centre of Birmingham calling at its main station "Birmingham New Street". New Locos will be a Class 323 (which is the only unit currently running on this line). A selection of activities will also be included.

The Cross-City Line is a suburban railway line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs from Redditch, Worcestershire, its southern terminus, to Lichfield, Staffordshire, its northern terminus, via Birmingham New Street, London Midland currently operates services on this line. For many years, passenger services on the line were worked by elderly Class 108, 115, 116, 117, 118 and 121 diesel multiple units. However, by the early 1990s these trains were becoming increasingly unreliable, so new trains were built to coincide with the electrification of the route in 1993. By 1995 the last of the old trains had been withdrawn, having been replaced by the current Class 323 electrical multiple units.

There are long-standing proposals for improvements to the line. Extra stations have been proposed for Mere Green (between Four Oaks and Butler's Lane), Raddlebarn Road (between Bournville and Selly Oak, to serve Selly Oak Hospital), and Wychall (between Northfield and King's Norton). More ambitious plans include the re-opening of a short spur south of Longbridge to Rubery and Frankley and the re-introduction of local trains on the Camp Hill Line (effectively a loop between Birmingham New Street and King's Norton).

Nevertheless, the line's main problem is capacity on its central section. The long-term aspiration is for dedicated tunnels running through central Birmingham. This would either take the form of new bored tunnels (favoured by the SRA) or a re-opening of Birmingham Curzon Street Station to allow two of the existing four tunnels to be used for local trains only (formerly favoured by Central Trains).

Current daytime service levels are:

• between Redditch and Longbridge: 2 trains per hour
• between Longbridge and Four Oaks: 6 trains per hour
• between Four Oaks and Lichfield City: 4 trains per hour
• between Lichfield City and Lichfield Trent Valley: 2 trains per hour

System Requirements

* This does not affect your statutory rights