CrossCountry services in the Birmingham area will be disrupted each weekend until the beginning of March to allow the construction of a bridge for HS2.
From this Saturday, 10 February until Sunday, 3 March, there will be no train services between Birmingham New Street and Coleshill Parkway, with rail replacement buses being provided between the two stations.
The closure is to allow engineers to move a new 84-metre-long, 1,600-tonne road bridge into position on Aston Church Road in the Nechells area of Birmingham.
The new bridge is on the HS2 route to Birmingham Curzon Street, which passes under the Birmingham to Tamworth line.
To minimise disruption to train services, the new bridge structure has been built on land next to the existing line.
On Sunday, 18 February, train services between Birmingham and Derby will be further disrupted as the line between Burton-on-Trent and Tamworth will also be closed.
The weekend closures will affect services between Birmingham New Street and Stansted Airport, Cardiff Central and Nottingham, and Scotland and the North East to the South West.
Anyone intending to travel over the four weekends should check their journeys before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Rail replacement bus services will operate on the following dates:
Between Birmingham New Street and Coleshill Parkway
- Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 February, Saturday 17 to Monday 19 February, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 February; Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 March
Between Burton-on-Trent and Tamworth
- Sunday 18 February
Between Nuneaton, Coleshill Parkway and Birmingham New Street
- Sunday 3 March
Further information about the bus services can be found online by clicking here to visit the CrossCountry website here.
Patrick Cawley, Director for Network Rail and HS2's On Network Works team, said: “Over the next few weekends, HS2 teams will complete a major feat of engineering, manoeuvring a 1,600-tonne bridge into position over the railway, where it will eventually be installed and open to pedestrians and road users.
“We know there's never a good time to close the railway, but working in consecutive weekend closures means we can keep the railway open as much as possible during the week. I'd like to thank passengers for their patience and remind them to check before they travel during the closure dates.”
Clare Shaw, Interim Regional Director for CrossCountry's East Midlands and East Anglia region, said: “We're sorry to customers whose journeys are affected by engineering work at Water Orton over upcoming weekends. I'd ask customers to check their entire journey before travelling and to leave more time than usual to get to their destination.”
