Birmingham International is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

located in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, to the east of the city of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England. The station is on the

Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line The Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line (also known as the Birmingham loop) is a railway line in the West Midlands of England. It is a loop off the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Rugby and Stafford, via the West Midlands cities of Coventry ...

14 km (8½ miles) east of

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from , and vi ...

and serves

Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...

National Exhibition Centre The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre located in Marston Green, Solihull, West Midlands, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International railway sta ...

(incorporating the

Resorts World Arena The Resorts World Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena located at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Solihull, England. It has a capacity of 15,685 seats. The venue was built as the seventh hall of the NEC complex. After 18 months of const ...

) and

Resorts World Birmingham Resorts World Birmingham is an entertainment complex in Birmingham, England. It has the largest casino in the United Kingdom, shopping mall, restaurants and cinemas. Construction began in February 2013 and finished in autumn 2015. The Casino i ...

History

The station was designed by the architect Ray Moorcroft and opened on 26 January 1976; it 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

. The large space under the overbridge to the left of the southbound platforms suggests space was allowed for future expansion of the station. In 2016, it was proposed to rename it to ''Birmingham Airport & NEC'', due to the airport's name change and the near presence of the

Services

The station is managed by

Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...

and is also served by CrossCountry,

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

and

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

. It has five platforms, consisting of two islands and one side platform numbered 1-5 from south to north. Birmingham International railway station4 -21y08

Birmingham International railway station4 -21y08

The basic off-peak service is as follows:

*2 trains per hour to , of which **1 train per hour calls at , and **1 train per hour calls at , , and *2 trains per hour to , of which **1 train per hour continues to Blackpool North/ (alternating each hour) via and **2 trains per day continue to via and During the rush hour, certain

services to/from start and terminate here. CrossCountry *1 train per hour to , via *1 train per hour to , via

*1 train per hour to , of which: **1 train every two hours continues to and , after dividing at **1 train every two hours continues to , via and

*4 trains per hour to , of which: **2 trains call at only, under the

London Northwestern Railway West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

brand **1 train starts here and calls at , , and and continues to , under the

West Midlands Railway West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

brand **1 train starts here and calls at and , under the

brand *2 trains per hour to , via , calling at , , , , , , , , , , and , under the

brand

Connection to Birmingham Airport

maglev Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...

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

Doppelmayr Cable Car Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group is an international manufacturer of ropeways and people movers for ski areas, urban transport, amusement parks, and material handling systems. As of 2019, the group have produced over 15,000 installations in 96 countri ...

Cable Liner The Cable Liner is a range of automated people mover products designed by Doppelmayr Cable Car for use at airports, in city centers, intermodal passenger transport connections, park and ride facilities, campuses, resorts and amusement parks. ...

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 Air-Rail Link is a people mover linking Birmingham Airport with Birmingham International railway station and the National Exhibition Centre in England. The current system, originally known as SkyRail, replaced the earlier Birmingham Maglev ...

. 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

Undercover walkways,

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...

s and travelators connect the NEC buildings to the station and to the Air-Rail Link which, in turn, connects to Birmingham Airport.

Birmingham interchange

A new

Birmingham Interchange Birmingham Interchange is a planned High Speed 2 railway station in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England, expected to open in 2026. Unlike the city centre based Birmingham Curzon Street railway station, the interchange ...

is to be built on the other side of the

M42 motorway The M42 motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and Tamworth on the way, serving the east of the ...

from the station to link it with the proposed

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

rail line. The new interchange would be connected to the station by an

automated people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...

, as well as to the airport and National Exhibition centre; the

people mover already operates between Birmingham International station and the airport.

References

External links

Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Birmingham International station
{{authority control Railway stations in Solihull DfT Category B stations Airport railway stations in the United Kingdom Railway stations opened by British Rail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1976 Railway stations served by CrossCountry Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail Railway stations served by Avanti West Coast Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains 1976 establishments in England Stations on the West Coast Main Line