The University railway station that is under construction next to the University of Birmingham campus is now due for completion in Spring 2023.

The new station will be situated next to the current one which was built in 1978, and is hoped to improve accessibility, safety, and comfort. However, economic conditions have slowed down the process, with inflation being one of several causes.

Contacting Amanda White, the Rail Programme Director for Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) for comment on this, Redbrick News was invited to see the station under construction and speak to employees working to complete the University station. On Friday 7^th of October, Redbrick met with Liam Brooker, Programme Sponsor West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE), and Baljeet Kalsi, Senior Construction Manager, providing the paper with an exclusive tour of the construction site and an interview to discuss the process of undergoing this construction project. They also allowed the paper to take photographs of the interior.

The new station will be situated next to the current one […] and is hoped to improve accessibility, safety, and comfort.

Whilst the tour took place, Liam and Baljeet responded to questions concerning the timescale of the construction as well as the effect the economy has had on the site. Liam goes into detail about the complications of the supply chains as well as the process that goes into installing features into the station:

‘We were talking about those big concrete pillars – each one being slightly different and designed to go in a specific space. They came on a ship from Ireland and they were dropped in over a series of weekends because the railway had to close and we had to close the canal.’

‘Similarly with the steel work – the bridge over the canal – the bridge over the railway – they were made in Glasgow and brought down by truck. In order to be able to make those structures the steel needed to be made. The steel works needed electricity so even that starts to give you a sense of how complicated the supply chains are – with steel and cement being very energy intensive to make.’

Baljeet further explains the advantage of bringing in materials and structures from offsite locations:

‘Sequence of works – things needed to be done offsite. As much as possible is pre-built offsite. This is primarily for cost and safety benefits. Anything that you can do off site always has an advantage on any project.’

‘When it comes to construction it always comes down to sequence of works – before the guys start in the morning – health and safety briefing – following the processes set before them. Any issues, just raise them. Get the materials in advance. We don’t want to have too much material on-site because the site is small.’

The steel works needed electricity so even that starts to give you a sense of how complicated the supply chains are

Elaborating on questions concerning the hope that the station would be completed in time for the Commonwealth Games, Liam discusses the multiple challenges that the project has had to tackle:

‘It’s not necessarily saying that we have had to slow down because of electricity expenses. It’s more across our supply chain – there are impacts on their ability to get us the things that we need that has also had an impact. There are not necessarily enough people in the industry at the moment, which is another challenge for us.’

‘If we were to go back into the back-end of last year – we got to a place where we were talking about “What is really important here?” And decided that it was getting the station in a fit state in time for the games. We didn’t think we could open the whole station – we thought that the risk would be unacceptable – particularly with everything that we know is going on.’

‘So, we took the decision and decided that the most important thing was to get the platforms widened so people can wait and for it to be safe. Getting the canopy’s up so they are protected from the sun or the rain and opening up the public rail because we knew there would need to be space for queuing.’

We didn’t think we could open the whole station – we thought that the risk would be unacceptable

‘But we got it done and it was off the back of that we said, “Okay, now that we have done all that, what is the most sensible and safe schedule to deliver the rest of the work?”, which is why we have now ended up at spring of next year. There were certainly concerns – you know we wanted to make sure we weren’t just pushing, pushing, pushing people. Because you don’t work safely like that, and we took a realistic view of the challenges and risks and what we think might be feasible.’

With the current University train station right next to the construction site, Liam discusses the reasons why a newer and bigger one is needed:

‘The current station was made in 1978 – designed for a quarter of a million people, a small station effectively. And before the pandemic it was handling 4 million in a year. So, if you’ve ever used it, there’s the queuing that goes each way down the steps – particularly with the old platforms. They were very full – because they were so narrow – everyone budged up at one end, and that actually had an impact on train reliability. It’s like a funnel – if everyone is trying to pile on one end, you can’t get on, the train is delayed, people get stuck.’

Liam also emphasised how the new University train station will be an important part of the experience for people travelling in the West Midlands and to the University of Birmingham campus:

‘You want to say “Come to the West Midlands, we’ve got these internationally important institutions”, and you would like them to come by proper transport – from a sustainability point of view. They get a great experience. And if they are waiting on a platform for 10 minutes whilst there is rain – it’s not the message you want to send.’

‘You want to say “Come to the West Midlands, we’ve got these internationally important institutions”, and you would like them to come by proper transport

‘However, that brings us back to the question of quality, and we have to make sure we get it right. It will be great. Anyone will be able to come in, use the NHS facility which is there, use the shops that are there, come up over the railway – over the canal – back down to the campus. And that’s going to be a new open, public space. It’s actually opening up this area. And the university has all sorts of plans about how it might use the station in the future. As I said they worked really close with us, they are a really important partner in funding this – in terms of land – but also in terms of the design, how it’s going to look, and how it’s going to work.’

Redbrick further reached out to the University of Birmingham to comment on their involvement in the architecture, design, and funding of the University train station. A spokesperson said:

‘The new University Station will make a really big difference to our staff, students and visitors as well as to those who work or visit the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and of course the local community.

We have been involved with the design of the station and also provided the land to West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE), Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and VolkerFitzpatrick to support the development, and much needed extension and improvements. The University has been informed that the station is likely to open in Spring 2023.’