Place Edgbaston Station code UNI DfT category D Number of platforms 2 Original company British Rail | Grid reference SP043837 Managed by London Midland 2011/12 2.595 million | |
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Address Birmingham B15 2FG, United Kingdom Pte Transport for West Midlands Similar Longbridge railway station, Five Ways railway station, Kings Norton railway st, Chester Road railway st, Northfield railway station | ||
University railway station is a railway station serving the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Women's Hospital, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the Cross-City Line which runs from Redditch to Lichfield via Birmingham New Street. Most services are operated by London Midland who manage the station, with some services also operated by CrossCountry.
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History
Located on the former Birmingham West Suburban Railway, University station was built in 1977/8 as part of the upgrade of the Cross City line. The station was opened by William Rodgers, then Secretary of State for Transport, on 8 May 1978. Although this was the first station on the site, it is located a short distance away from the former Somerset Road Station which was closed in the 1930s. The Cross-City Line was electrified in 1993 and the current Class 323 electric multiple units were introduced by British Rail on local services.
In 2017 it was announced that University railway station would receive up to £10 million as an improvement fund to enhance passenger experience and reduce overcrowding as part of the Government's Midlands Engine Strategy.
Facilities
Pedestrian access is via University Road West, close to the Medical School and bus interchange - around 330 yards (300 m) uphill from University Square. Due to the station's campus location on a service road there is no car parking, although nearby Selly Oak station is a designated Park and Ride station. The station is also situated alongside the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, a popular cycling and jogging route. Access is at street level as there is a fence between Platform 2 and the towpath.
The station is the only main line railway station in Great Britain built specifically to serve a university. There is a covered waiting room on Platform 2. There are also two automated ticket machines on the concourse and two windowed ticket booths, staffed all day Monday to Saturday and from 9:20 on Sundays. There is lift access down to both platforms from the entrance. Fare control is enforced by a line of automatic ticket barriers installed in April 2009, as at Five Ways.
Services
The station is served by London Midland with local Cross-City Line services operated by 3- or 6-car Class 323 electrical multiple units. London Midland's longer-distance services to Hereford and CrossCountry services to Cardiff and Nottingham are operated by air-conditioned Turbostar diesel multiple units.
University station is the sixth busiest station in the Network West Midlands region in terms of passenger numbers, and the busiest without a direct link to London. Just over two million tickets were sold to and from the station in the year 2009-10.
Typical off-peak weekday service is as follows, in trains per hour (tph):
Platform 1 (Northbound)
All services from Platform 1 stop at Birmingham New Street with an average journey time of 8 minutes.
Platform 2 (Southbound)
Disabled access
There is level access from the street to the ticket office and footbridge. Lifts provide access to both platforms from the footbridge. The station has a wide ticket gate which wheelchair users can use unaided.