Plans on track to reopen old railway line
PLANS to bring back passenger services on a Birmingham rail line linking Moseley, Kings Heath, Kings Norton and the city centre have received a boost.
The government asked areas to name long-closed rail lines which should be revived, as part of a major new rail strategy.
And the West Midlands Combined Authority is set to tell the government that the Camp Hill Line line should be top of the list.
It could mean re-opening train stations at Moseley, Kings Heath and Balsall Heath.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Many commuter services are full and getting busier and passengers know how much pressure the network is under. He added: “We need to expand our network to unlock jobs and housing growth across the country.”
The government says it wants to re-open some of the lines closed in previous decades.
Passenger numbers fell across the country in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, leading to the closure of a substantial part of the rail network.
But a paper published by the Department for Transport said: “Few people in the sector antici- pated the turnaround that followed. Over the subsequent 20 years, passenger numbers rocketed, to the point that more journeys are now made each year than at any time since the peak in 1919 on a network that is much smaller than it was then.”
Passenger Camp Hill services line were on the actually stopped in the 1940s, but it is also a candidate for revival. It is currently used for freight services.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has pledged to get work started on the Birmingham to Moseley and Kings Heath rail line by the time his first term of office ends in 2020.
A plan issued in 2007 proposed three stations on a revived line at Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell (Stirchley), but that the West Midlands Combined Authority, which Mr Street chairs, looked this year at the case for a new Balsall Heath station too.
Mr Grayling said the government would restore lost services “where this enables new housing or economic development, or eases congestion elsewhere on the transport system, and offers value for money.”