Construction has begun on the Midlands Rail Hub after UK ministers announced the provision of an £123m in funding.
The money is part of the reallocated HS2 funding and is set to impact more than 50 stations and seven million people across the region.
The Midlands Rail Hub aims to see services on most routes increase by between 50% and 100%.
Birmingham’s Cross-City line will have a train every 10 minutes while the number of trains between Birmingham and Leicester will double from two to four per hour.
Additional trains are planned between Birmingham and Nottingham, and the new Birmingham to Worcester trains will be extended to Hereford.
The first phase of the Midlands Rail Hub will mean an additional train every hour in both directions between central Birmingham and locations including Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham and Worcester.
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Mayor of West Midlands and chair of the West Midlands Rail Executive, Andy Street, said: “The Midlands Rail Hub will deliver a revolution in public transport for our region opening up more capacity on the routes in and out of central Birmingham which will allow us to run more services to more places both locally and nationally.
“This investment will not only better connect communities to convenient and rapid public transport services but also attract further investment into our region, delivering jobs, growth and greater prosperity.”
The first wave of funding is designed to enable work to begin on creating space for extra services. This includes preparing detailed designs for the infrastructure improvements required, finalising operating plans for the new services, while continuing to move the rest of the programme forward.
Over the seven years, the funding will reportedly be on average at least nine times more than local authorities in these areas currently receive through the local integrated transport block, which is the current mechanism for funding local transport improvements in their areas.
When delivered in full, the hub will see services on most routes increase by between 50% and 100%. Birmingham’s Cross-City line will be given a ‘turn-up-and-go’ service with a train every 10 minutes.
Subject to future decisions, this first phase of the Midlands Rail Hub could be completed by the early 2030s.
Achievements and innovations in public transport will be celebrated at the third annual CiTTi Awards, which will be held on 26 November 2024 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Nominations are open now! Please visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector.
