I attended the Railway Stations Update meeting last Wednesday, and have summarised the content, with help from the Kings Heath Neighbourhood Forum.
Opening timeline
The new stations on the Camp Hill Line are expected to open to passengers in 2026.
No exact date has been fixed yet. Based on the meeting, the opening is likely between March 2026 and July 2026.
They emphasize that this uncertainty isn’t due to construction delays: the physical works (platforms, buildings etc.) are still on track to be finished by end of 2025 as previously announced.
The delay in announcing a date is largely due to the time needed for the “Entry into Service” process: testing, training, certification, and transfer of ownership to the operator.
An added complication is that West Midlands Trains’ ownership is changing to public ownership in February 2026, which overlaps with that handover/entry-into-service period.
Station & highway works status
Kings Heath
• Most highway works are done now.
• Some finishing tasks remain: activating new pedestrian crossing lights, resurfacing one carriageway, other small works.
Pineapple Road
• Highway works are ongoing and proceeding well, with expectations to complete by mid-November 2025.
Moseley Village
• Some utility and highway permissions still need finalising before full work can begin; expected by mid-October 2025.
• Roadworks for station access are slated to finish by mid-December 2025.
Train services & fares
The service will run into and out of Birmingham New Street.
Trains will continue beyond Pineapple Road to Kings Norton. CORRECTION: PASSENGERS CAN BOARD AND ALIGHT AT KINGS NORTON.
Frequency & hours:
• Monday–Saturday: 2 trains per hour from ~06:00 to 23:00
• Sunday: 1 train per hour, starting later and ending earlier than weekdays
Journey time projections: Once operating, estimated times to Birmingham New Street are ~ 8 min from Moseley Village, ~ 11 min from Kings Heath, ~ 14 min from Pineapple Road.
Rolling stock & capacity:
• 4-car Class 196 diesel trains will be used.
• These trains have a more open design (fewer seats, more standing space).
• Bike storage is nominally 3 per train, though allowing more is at the conductor’s discretion and likely to be difficult during peak times.
Fares: The stations will fall under Zone 3 fare band, so fares should roughly match the cost from Kings Norton to New Street (currently £3.80 peak) or be a bit lower.
Station features & community input
Station art & design: There will be community workshops to design features such as mosaics, heritage boards, possibly a mural at Kings Heath (given its link to local street art events).
Bike parking:
• Kings Heath & Pineapple Road: space for ~ 32 bikes each
• Moseley Village: space for ~ 50 bikes
Car parking: There will be no formal car parking at any station — only drop-off zones.
Street parking & enforcement: The surrounding streets’ parking will be monitored.
• A baseline survey has already been done before opening.
• After opening, a second survey (~6 months later) will check if parking pressure has increased. If so, measures will be considered.
• The local council and West Midlands Mayor’s office have committed to assist with parking enforcement around the stations.
Strategic & future possibilities
The platforms are built to handle up to 6-car trains, so capacity could expand if demand justifies it.
However, increasing the number of trains per hour is limited by New Street station capacity, so no expansion is likely in the near term (10+ years).
Further infrastructure ideas (aspirations) include:
• Reopening or creating platforms at Kings Norton as part of a “West Midlands Rail Hub.”
• Adding chord lines to feed Moor Street station instead of New Street.
• Electrification — currently no funding or plans for it.
Trees removed between Kings Heath and Pineapple Road will not be fully replanted (due to operational/sightline issues), but in places some smaller shrubs may be introduced. A 1.8 m fence will be used for sight/noise mitigation.
All these years living near Kings Norton station while this never-ending saga has been going on, I always assumed it would be a convenient way to hop over to the fun places of Kings Heath and Moseley. If I read your update right, that's turned out right at the end to be a big fat 'no' because 'reasons'.
ReplyDeleteThe reason is that they don't want people from Kings Norton station to get in the Camp Hill line if th Cross City line faces delays or closures.
DeleteAnanth Murthy, one of the presenters at the meeting, is keen to stress that passengers WILL BE ABLE to alight and board trains at Kings Norton.
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