Birmingham International railway station

The station was designed by the architect Ray Moorcroft and opened on 26 January 1976; ^[1] it has regular train services to many parts of the country. It was named Birmingham International after the adjacent airport, which had that name at the time. A large space under the overbridge next to the southbound platforms suggests an allowance for future station expansion.

In 2016, it was proposed to rename it to Birmingham Airport & NEC, due to the airport's name change and its presence near to the National Exhibition Centre.^[2]

It has five platforms, consisting of two islands and one side platform numbered 1–5 from south to north.

The station is served by four train operating companies, with the following basic Monday to Saturday off-peak service in trains per hour/day.

Avanti West Coast:^[3]

• 2 tph London Euston, via Coventry
• 2 tph to Birmingham New Street
• 1 tp2h to Glasgow Central, via Wolverhampton and Preston
• 1 tp2h to Edinburgh Waverley, via Wolverhampton and Preston

CrossCountry:^[4]

• 1 tph to Manchester Piccadilly, via Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield
• 1 tph to Bournemouth, via Coventry and Reading.

Transport for Wales:^[5][6]

• 1 tph to Shrewsbury, of which:
  • 1 tp2h continues to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli, after dividing at Machynlleth
  • 1 tp2h continues to Holyhead, via Wrexham General and Chester.

West Midlands Trains:^[7][8]

London Northwestern Railway

• 2 tph to London Euston, via Northampton
• 2 tph to Birmingham New Street

West Midlands Railway

• 2 tph to Rugeley Trent Valley, via Birmingham New Street and Walsall

Caledonian Sleeper

• 1 tpd to London Euston
• 1 tpd to Aberdeen/Inverness/Fort William (departs as a single train and divides at Edinburgh Waverley into three portions for each destination).

More information Preceding station, National Rail ...

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Birmingham New Street		Avanti West Coast London – Birmingham – North West & Scotland		Coventry
		CrossCountry South West to Manchester
Birmingham New Street Terminus		London Northwestern Railway London–Birmingham		Hampton-in-Arden towards London Euston
Birmingham New Street		Transport for Wales Birmingham International-Chester/Holyhead		Terminus
		Transport for Wales Birmingham International - Aberystwyth/Pwllheli
Marston Green		West Midlands Railway Birmingham International – Walsall – Rugeley Trent Valley		Terminus
Crewe		Caledonian Sleeper Highland Sleeper		London Euston
Preceding station		Air-Rail Link		Following station
Terminus		Air-Rail Link (formerly Maglev)		Birmingham Airport

Close

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 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 known originally 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.

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

A new Birmingham Interchange station is to be built on the other side of the M42 motorway on the High Speed 2 rail line.^[9] The new interchange will be connected to the station by an automated people mover, as well as to the airport and National Exhibition Centre; the AirRail Link people mover already operates between Birmingham International station and the airport.