The arrival of HS2 at Curzon Street station in 2026 will herald a wider connectivity package aimed at boosting transport into the city centre and across the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
For any doubters, the fences are already up north of the Curzon Street site, and designers and architects have been appointed for the new station – WSP and Grimshaw, who worked on the Eden Project. Remediation work and street closures are beginning shortly.
But how will this play out for Moseley?
Firstly there is a plan, which is Movement for Growth transport strategy for the region. Secondly, the powers devolved to the new Transport for West Midlands are considerable. Finally, the lobbying is intense – over 100 senior civil servants led by the Department for Transport Permanent Secretary visited Birmingham on January 18th to review plans and look at projects.
The first projects are the roll out of Midlands Metro to Edgbaston (being built right now), and the extension through Digbeth and ultimately to the Airport along the Coventry Road, as well as plans to integrate a comprehensive cycle network as part of a ‘model shift’ away from cars.
The second phase is going through the Network Rail GRIP 4 stage – basically single option analysis rather than scoping alternatives. This includes the re-opening of Platform 4 at Moor Street station, construction of the Bordesley chords to connect the Camp Hill (Moseley) line into Moor Street.
Transport for the West Midlands have publicly stated they need £3 billion in total to meet their strategy including programmes in Wolverhampton and Walsall ,but most programmes are ‘wholly or substantially funded’ already.
The ask to Government around HS2 Connectivity was £1.3 billion in the period up to the arrival of HS2, and £270 million once services begin. From an engineering perspective the Bordesley chords need to be seen as part of the wider HS2 works, and it is felt that the onset of the Commonwealth Games in 2022 will give further impetus to this happening on time.
The political imperative is the next Mayoral election – Mayor Andy Street has made reducing congestion, and indeed beginning work on connecting the Camp Hill line back to the passenger network – as a key commitment. So with a coming together of financial, engineering, political and reputational factors, it looks as if at long last Moseley residents may be once again be able to use the train in the not too distant future.
For further reading:
https://www.tfwm.org.uk/media/1102/hs2-connectivity-package.pdf
Moseley Liberal Democrats 