The Cross City line between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley will close for three days in May, while a HS2 viaduct is installed near the new Curzon Street station. No trains will run on the north side of the line between Friday, May 29, and Sunday, May 31.
Train services between Birmingham and Tame Bridge Parkway will also be impacted, train services to Rugeley Trent Valley will be diverted and take slightly longer; however, trains will continue to run normally between Birmingham New Street and Redditch and Bromsgrove on the southern section of the Cross City line.
Passengers are being advised to plan ahead as a rail replacement bus service will run between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley, and between Birmingham New Street and Tame Bridge Parkway. The line will reopen as normal on Monday, June 1.
Why is this happening?
A new 150-metre-long viaduct is being installed, which in the future will carry HS2 trains towards the new Curzon Street station, over the existing Victorian brick viaduct that connects the railway between Duddeston and Birmingham New Street.
“We’re asking passengers to plan ahead of a three-day closure on the Cross City line between Birmingham and Lichfield, which is needed to safely install a new HS2 viaduct deck over the existing railway,” said Patrick Cawley, director for On Network Works at Network Rail and HS2.
Using an innovative engineering solution, HS2 has worked closely with Network Rail to enable a ‘fully restrained’ process, which will allow engineers to safely continue sliding the remainder of the deck over the railway after it reopens to trains. This innovative and controlled process should help minimise disruption.
You can plan your journey and check before you travel here.
