Birmingham International railway station

Birmingham International
Entrance to the station
Location
Place	Birmingham Airport
Local authority	Metropolitan Borough of Solihull
Coordinates	52°27′04″N 1°43′30″W / 52.451°N 1.725°WCoordinates: 52°27′04″N 1°43′30″W / 52.451°N 1.725°W
Grid reference	SP187837
Operations
Station code	BHI
Managed by	Virgin Trains
Number of platforms	5
DfT category	B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	4.444 million
– Interchange	54,261
2011/12	4.329 million
– Interchange	78,447
2012/13	4.523 million
– Interchange	66,425
2013/14	4.858 million
– Interchange	66,195
2014/15	5.129 million
– Interchange	81,667
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Transport for West Midlands
Zone	5
History
Original company	British Rail
26 January 1976	Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Birmingham International from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Birmingham International is a railway station located in the borough of Solihull, just east of the city of Birmingham, England.

The station is on the Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line 14 km (8½ miles) east of Birmingham New Street and serves both Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. The railway station lies next to the M42 motorway. The 'International' in its name refers to the airport, not to an international railway service. The station opened on 26 January 1976.^[1] and has regular train services to many parts of the country. It was named Birmingham International after the adjacent airport which was at the time named Birmingham International Airport, but has since been rebranded as Birmingham Airport.

The station is managed by Virgin Trains and is also served by Arriva Trains Wales, CrossCountry and London Midland. It has five platforms, consisting of two islands and one side platform numbered 1-5 from south to north.

The station at platform level.

Services

The basic off-peak service is as follows:

Virgin Trains^[2]

• 3 trains per hour to London Euston
• 2 trains per hour to Birmingham New Street
• 1 train per hour to Glasgow Central/Edinburgh Waverley (alternating each hour) via Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton
• 2 trains per day to Shrewsbury

During rush hour certain Virgin services to/from London Euston start and terminate here.

Arriva Trains Wales^[3]

• 1 train per hour to Shrewsbury, of which:
  • 1 train per two hours continues to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli after dividing at Machynlleth
  • 1 train per two hours continues to Holyhead via Wrexham General and Chester

CrossCountry^[4]

• 1 train per hour to Manchester Piccadilly
• 1 train per hour to Bournemouth via Reading

London Midland^[5]

• 4 trains per hour to Birmingham New Street
• 3 trains per hour to London Euston via Northampton

Connection to Birmingham Airport

AirRail Link people mover system showing the track and pulley system

A maglev service ran from the airport terminal to the station from 1984 until 1995. The train "flew" at an altitude of 15 mm over a track 620 m in length. It operated for nearly 11 years, but was scrapped because spare parts for the system were no longer available. It was temporarily replaced by a bus.

The chosen replacement system, the DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car Cable Liner Shuttle, was announced in late 2000 and construction started in 2001. The Interchange was opened in March 2003. The system was originally known as SkyRail but in 2004 it was renamed AirRail Link.

The airport can also be reached via a dedicated fast bus service from Coleshill Parkway station, on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line.

Connection to the National Exhibition Centre

Under cover walkways, escalators and Travelators connect the NEC buildings to the station and to the Air-Rail Link, which in turn connects to Birmingham Airport.

Birmingham interchange

The proposed 'Birmingham Interchange'

A new Birmingham Interchange railway station is to be built on the other side of the M42 motorway from the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham Airport and this station.^[6] The new interchange would be connected by a "rapid transit people mover" to the other sites; the AirRail Link people mover already operates between Birmingham International station and the airport.

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 34. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
2. GB eNRT, Tables 65, 66 & 68
3. GB eNRT, Tables 74 & 75
4. GB eNRT, Table 51
5. GB eNRT, Table 68
6. Department for Transport (11 March 2010). High Speed Rail - Command Paper (PDF). The Stationery Office. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-10-178272-2. Retrieved 13 March 2010.

External links

• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Birmingham International station