Longbridge railway station

Coordinates: 52°23′46″N 1°58′48″W / 52.396°N 1.980°W / 52.396; -1.980
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Not to be confused with Longbridge railway station (1915–1964).

Longbridge
National Rail
General information
LocationLongbridge, Birmingham
England
Coordinates52°23′46″N 1°58′48″W / 52.396°N 1.980°W / 52.396; -1.980
Grid referenceSP013775
Managed byWest Midlands Railway[1]
Transit authorityTransport for West Midlands
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeLOB
Fare zone4
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Original companyBirmingham and Gloucester Railway
Key dates
15 November 1841Station opened
1 May 1849Closed
8 May 1978Reopened
Passengers
2018/19Increase 1.053 million
2019/20Decrease 1.029 million
2020/21Decrease 0.239 million
2021/22Increase 0.525 million
2022/23Increase 0.686 million
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Longbridge railway station is a railway station serving the Longbridge, Rednal, Rubery, and West Heath areas in the far south-west of Birmingham, England. It is on the Cross City Line. The station and all trains calling there are operated by West Midlands Trains.

History[edit]

Two previous stations serving Longbridge have existed: The first was opened at a location just south of the current station in either 1840 or 1841, when the original Birmingham and Gloucester Railway opened, it did not prosper and closed in 1849.[2][3]

Longbridge station in August 1979, still incomplete it had opened the previous year.

Another Longbridge station had existed nearby, on the Halesowen Railway branch to Old Hill: this station only ever served workman's trains, and operated between 1915 and 1964.[2][4] Until closure of much of the Longbridge factory, the disused track and Longbridge station building remained in situ.

The current station, on Tessall Lane, was built to the designs of the architect John Broome[5] and opened in 1978 under the auspices of British Rail, as part of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive's Cross-City Line scheme. It was built as a simple two platform station on the four-track line, with a turnback siding just south of the station for terminating services. Initially nearly all Cross-City Line services terminated here, until 1980 when some were extended to Redditch. The line was electrified in 1993.[2]

Services[edit]

Platforms at Longbridge with a Central Trains Class 323 departing towards Birmingham New Street

The station is served by West Midlands Trains.

During Monday-Saturday daytimes, there are four northbound trains per hour; two of these terminate at Four Oaks (calling at all stations), with the other two continuing to Lichfield Trent Valley (calling at all stations apart from Duddeston). The average journey time to Birmingham New Street is around twenty minutes.[6] Southbound trains operate every thirty minutes to Redditch and every thirty minutes to Bromsgrove. Both services to Redditch call at Alvechurch and Barnt Green, with one Bromsgrove-bound train per hour calling at Barnt Green.

On Sundays, trains operate every twice per hour between Redditch and Lichfield Trent Valley, as well as one train per hour between Bromsgrove and Birmingham New Street, calling at all stations en route.[7]

Since 29 July 2018, trains that used to terminate here were extended to Bromsgrove, except for a small number of early morning and late night trains, following the completion of a scheme to extend the Cross City electrification from Barnt Green.[8] Two trains per hour operate to/from Bromsgrove Mon-Sat and one each way per hour on Sundays; the latter starting/terminating at New Street.

Disabled access[edit]

The station has level access from Longbridge Lane. The ticket office and footbridge are both accessible at this station. Platform 1 (for services towards Birmingham New Street) has a lift facility, whereas platform 2 (for trains towards Redditch and Bromsgrove) has a ramp to the platform from the main station building. The ramp has been criticised for being too steep, with requests being called for the lift facility to be reinstated.

The station also has a disabled toilet, accessible via a RADAR key.

Service patterns[edit]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Northfield   West Midlands Railway
Cross City Line 		  Barnt Green
or Bromsgrove
Disused railways
Great Western RailwayTerminus
Cofton   Birmingham and
Gloucester Railway 		  Moseley
Midland RailwayTerminus

Future plans[edit]

In 2022, Network Rail published the West Midlands Strategic Rail Advice. Among other things, this guide suggested that Longbridge becomes the main "secondary hub" along the CrossCity South, having direct links to Nottingham, Cardiff, Hereford, and the South West. The train station would see approximately 32 services per hour.[9]

This station could also be part of the newly re-instated Camp Hill line.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Station facilities for Longbridge
  2. ^ a b c Boynton, John (1993). Rails Across The City, The Story of The Birmingham Cross City Line. Kidderminster: Mid England Books. ISBN 0-9522248-0-1.
  3. ^ Quick, Michael. "Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain" (PDF). Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 294. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Longbridge Station (Halesowen Railway) 1915 - 1964". Rail around Birmingham & the West Midlands. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  5. ^ Lawrence, David (2018). British Rail Architecture 1948-97. Crecy Publishing Ltd. p. 155. ISBN 9780860936855.
  6. ^ "Train Timetables and Schedules | Longbridge". West Midlands Railway.
  7. ^ "Train Times | The Cross City Line | 21 May until 9 December 2023". West Midlands Railway.
  8. ^ Bromsgrove Corridor resignalling Rail Engineer article 17 January 2017; Retrieved 7 June 2017
  9. ^ ""West Midlands Strategic Advice 2022"" (PDF). Network Rail.
  10. ^ "Midlands Mayor backs call to add Longbridge to new passenger line". B31 Voices.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Longbridge railway station.
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