Image source, Network Rail
- Author, Andrew Dawkins
- Role, BBC News, West Midlands
Rail passengers are being warned that engineering work in Birmingham next month is likely to cause delays.
The scheme in Duddeston between 17 and 26 August – including preparations for HS2 – involves moving tracks and relocating a railway signal.
Services between Birmingham New Street and Stansted Airport, Wales and Scotland will all be affected.
Rail operator CrossCountry said some routes would bypass the work, but this would mean longer journey times.
The company said passengers going to Water Orton and Coleshill Parkway or through the Birmingham area should check before travelling and leave more time for their journeys.
Network Rail said every effort was being made to reduce the impact on passengers.
Routes affected include services between:
- Birmingham New Street and Leicester, Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport
- Cardiff Central and Birmingham New Street to Nottingham
- Scotland, the north east to Birmingham New Street and the south west
Work includes moving a section of track across a new bridge at Duddeston Mill Road, which has been built by HS2 Ltd and its contractor, Balfour Beatty Vinci.
The changes will allow HS2 to construct a new viaduct to carry high-speed trains over the existing railway and into Birmingham Curzon Street station in the future, Network Rail said.
Image source, Network Rail
Between Birmingham New Street and Coleshill Parkway stations engineers will replace 450m of track and two “crossovers” – sections of track that enable trains to move from one track to another.
Network Rail said these upgrades would help to make journeys “smoother and more reliable”.
Regional services linking the East Midlands with Birmingham will start and finish at Coleshill Parkway.
Replacement buses will link up Coleshill Parkway, Water Orton and Birmingham New Street stations.
Work will also take place over the weekends of 10 to 11 August and 31 August to 1 September, affecting CrossCountry services.
Drivers are being advised that during the major work, Coleshill Parkway station car park will be closed between 17 and 27 August.
Image source, Network Rail