The region's rail routes are strongly focused on serving Birmingham and the West Midlands metropolitan area, and are also at the heart of the national network.

 

Centro has joined Network Rail, Birmingham City Council and other partners on the £600m Gateway project. New Street will be transformed into a 21st century hub linked to bus and Metro, bringing regenration and jobs to the heart of the city.

 

Rail patronage has increased by over 50% since privatisation, well above the national average, with over 1,300 trains a day.

 

Centro provides some 6,500 free car park spaces at rail stations which take 3million cars off the road and save 98 tonnes of carbon emissions a year. All have bright lighting, CCTV, Help Points and other security measures.

 

Real Time Information is now at all Centro-supported rail stations to make up-to-date passenger information easily available. Improved information and signage has also been placed across the rail network.

 

Rail routes in the West Midlands range from the largely four-track West Coast Main Line to single track rural lines. Most routes are double track. The commuter rail network around Birmingham has services every 10 minutes on the most popular routes.

 

The region also handles considerable freight traffic and has over 30 freight terminals.

 

High Speed Rail 2

 

Centro and partners, including Birmingham and Solihull councils, are working with government to bring High Speed Rail (HS2) to the West Midlands.

 

Under the proposals, 54,000 people a day would travel to and from two Birmingham stations - near Moor Street transporting people to London in 50 minutes, and one near Birmingham Airport taking 38 minutes.

 

HS2 will boost the local economy by £1.5bn, and bring an estimated 22,000 jobs to the region.
 

Rail Development Plan

 

Our Regional Rail Development Plan identifies key local and regional rail connections in advance of HS2. It shows the actions needed to tackle such issues as reliability, access and service development.

 

Further investment in services, such as platform extensions to cater for longer trains, is central to ensuring the West Midlands - and national rail network - does not become more congested. 

 

Coventry to Nuneaton Upgrade

 

A major £19.5m plan to upgrade services between Coventry and Nuneaton has been developed. This will include two new stations, including one at the Ricoh Arena, and improving stations and track infrastructure. Frequency of services will be doubled.