Passengers are being urged by Network Rail to plan ahead of travel as the Cross City line between Birmingham New Street station and Lichfield Trent Valley station closes for three days in May to allow installation of an HS2 viaduct near the new Curzon Street station.

No trains will operate on the northern section of the Cross City line between Lichfield and Birmingham from Friday, 29 May until Sunday, 31 May, with services resuming as normal on Monday, 1 June.

Southern services between Birmingham New Street and Redditch or Bromsgrove will continue to run. Between Birmingham and Tame Bridge Parkway will also be affected.

Services to Rugeley Trent Valley will be diverted and may take longer.

Rail replacement bus services will operate between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley, and between Birmingham New Street and Tame Bridge Parkway.

During the closure, engineers from HS2 Ltd will install a 150-metre viaduct that will eventually carry high-speed trains towards Curzon Street over the existing Victorian structure between Duddeston and Birmingham New Street.

The project will use a ‘fully restrained’ sliding method, allowing work to continue safely after the railway reopens, reducing overall disruption.

“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.

“Using an innovative engineering solution, we’ve worked to minimise the impact of this work on rail passengers as much as possible but urge those planning to travel on the affected dates to check www.nationalrail.co.uk for information about changes to journeys.”

Patrick Cawley, director for On Network Works at Network Rail and HS2.