Rail travellers are being informed of alterations to services over a ten-day period in August 2024 due to crucial engineering works in Birmingham’s Duddeston district.

Significant track modifications are scheduled from 17 to 26 August, as part of ongoing enhancements to the rail network, including the groundwork for HS2 – the forthcoming high-speed railway in Britain.

The project includes the repositioning of a railway signal and installation of a track over a newly constructed bridge on Duddeston Mill Road by HS2 and its contractor, Balfour Beatty VINCI.

These modifications will facilitate the construction of a new viaduct by HS2, designed to route high-speed trains over the current railway and into the future Birmingham Curzon Street station.

Additionally, Network Rail engineers will replace 450 metres of track and two points between Birmingham New Street and Coleshill Parkway stations.

A third set of points will be repositioned to enhance train traffic flow through the area. These essential improvements aim to ensure smoother and more dependable journeys for both passengers and freight operations.

The routes CrossCountry services will be affected are as follows:

• Birmingham New Street and Leicester, Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.
• Cardiff Central and Birmingham New Street to Nottingham.
• Scotland, the North East to Birmingham New Street and the South West.

With a lot of work being undertaken, every effort is being made to reduce the impact of passengers’ journey through the Duddeston area during construction. Though due to the scale of this work, the railway must be closed for a full ten days in order to complete the job.

“Work to prepare for HS2 is progressing well in Birmingham and I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out this next phase of work to move tracks and a railway signal at Duddeston in August.

“If you’re planning to travel while the railway is closed, please check your journey in advance with CrossCountry or by using the National Rail Enquiries website or app.”

Patrick Cawley, director of ‘On Network Works’ for Network Rail and HS2

CrossCountry’s long-distance trains will diverted around the construction work, resulting in extended travel times.

In the meantime, the operator’s regional services that connect the East Midlands and Anglia with Birmingham will commence and terminate at Coleshill Parkway, with shuttle buses running between Coleshill Parkway, Water Orton, and Birmingham New Street stations.

Additionally, Network Rail has scheduled improvement works for the weekends of 10-11 August and 31 August-1 September, which will also impact CrossCountry services later in the summer.

Drivers should note that the car park at Coleshill Parkway station will be closed from Saturday 17 to Tuesday 27 August because of significant works. Drivers must remove all vehicles by the end of Friday 16 August.

“I want to thank passengers in advance for their patience while our industry partners carry out this vital work to prepare for the arrival of HS2.

“We’d ask passengers planning to travel to Water Orton and Coleshill Parkway, or through the Birmingham area between 16 and 27 August to check before travelling and leave more time than usual for their journey.”

Georgia Ehrmann, CrossCountry’s Regional Director for the West Midlands and North West

These major works are one of many being undertaken across the country over the course of this summer, others include a bridge replacement in Hackney in East London and another bridge replacement at Kings Sutton, with the works on both projects due to start next week.