Minister boosts hopes of railway station reopening
THERE is “no reason” why Moseley railway station could not be re-opened, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has told the Post.
He gave a boost to hopes that train services between Moseley, Kings Heath and Kings Norton could return.
Mr Grayling, the Government minister responsible for the nation’s transport networks, said there was money available for such a scheme.
He highlighted the Local Growth Fund, which provides millions of pounds in Government funding to bodies called Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Speaking to the Post at Westminster, he said: “There is absolutely no reason why these railway stations such as Moseley couldn’t re-open. There is funding available from various sources to do things like that, such as the Local Growth Fund, through local funding, through Network Rail’s budget if the case is there.” But Mr Grayling said first he wanted to ensure local politicians had more control over rail services, and particularly over local ser- vices currently run by London Midland.
The London Midland franchise is due to expire this year, and the Government wants the West Midlands Combined Authority and new West Midlands mayor, to be elected on May 4, to help design and monitor the new franchise.
Mr Grayling said: “At the moment, the approach we are taking is to embed the (local) transport body into the franchise team, to help design the franchise and monitor the franchise.
“So let’s get to base one and see how it works.”
There have been calls to bring back much-missed local train services such as Birmingham’s Camp Hill line, which links Moseley, Kings Heath, Kings Norton and the city centre.
Reviving the service could also mean re-opening Moseley train station, and possibly other stations.
The current contract to operate the London Midland franchise – which is officially called the West Midlands Franchise – is due to expire in October and two firms are bidding to run the service after that. They include London and West Midlands Railway Ltd, a subsidiary of transport firm Govia which owns London Midland, the current operator.
The other bidder is West Midlands Trains Ltd, which is owned by Dutch firm Abellio and Japanese firms East Japan Railway Company and Mitsui & Co.