Railways: Midland Metro through Birmingham

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Midland Metro. Image released into the public domain by its author G-Man

	1	Overview
	2	Map of Midland Metro through Birmingham
	3	Birmingham Snow Hill Railway Station
	4	Queensway Viaduct
	5	Saint Pauls Metro Stop
	6	Hockley Tunnels
	7	Jewellery Quarter Metro and Railway Station
	8	Through Hockley and Soho
	9	Soho Benson Road Metro Stop
	10	Through Winson Green
	11	Winson Green Outer Circle Metro Stop
	12	Through Handsworth
	13	Handsworth Booth Street Metro Stop
	14	Middlemore Industrial Estate

Overview (Top Menu)

The Midland Metro is a 12.5-mile tramway that connects Wolverhampton St Georges and Birmingham Snow Hill; three miles of the route runs through north-west Birmingham, between the Middlemore Industrial Estate in Handsworth and Snow Hill in the Business Quarter.

There are six metro stops in Birmingham: Handsworth Booth Street, Winson Green Outer Circle, Soho Benson Road, the Jewellery Quarter, St Paul's and Snow Hill.

The service is operated by Travel Midland Metro on behalf of Centro using sixteen T69 articulated two-section trams manufactured by Ansaldobreda in Italy. Each tram has three entrances and fifty-six seats. Bicycles are not permitted.

Services run at 6 - 8 minute intervals during weekdays, but are less frequent in the evening and at weekends. The typical journey time is 35 minutes between Snow Hill and Wolverhampton and 7 minutes between Snow Hill and Handsworth Booth Street.

The Midland Metro tends to be significantly more expensive than the bus service and consequently has proved less popular than anticipated. The current annual passenger footfall appears to have peaked at 5 million, barely one-third of that predicted at the planning stage.

Ambitious plans to extend the tramway through Birmingham city centre to Five Ways in Edgbaston have been revised and the Department of Transport has only approved funding for a 1km extension from Snow Hill Station to New Street Station via Upper Bull Street, Corporation Street and Stephenson Street.

This project will cost around £127 million; this figure includes £9 million already spent on the construction of a viaduct at Snow Hill Station (News Archive 17/03/10)

Map of Midland Metro through Birmingham (Top Menu)

Trams heading north-westwards on the Midland Metro, from Birmingham Snow Hill towards the Middlemore Industrial Estate, will pass the following landmarks:

Birmingham Snow Hill (Top Menu)

Midland Metro at Snow Hill Station. Image (cropped and resized brumagem) released into the public domain by its creator G-Man

The Birmingham terminus of the Midland Metro is at Snow Hill Station in the Business Quarter. The station possesses two metro platforms in addition to three mainline rail platforms. It has an annual passenger footfall of 2.36 million and is the second busiest station in Birmingham after New Street.

The facilities include shops, waiting rooms and a multi-storey car park with 800 spaces. The platforms and concourse are beneath the multi-storey car park; the station was built in 1987, 10 years after the Edwardian Snow Hill had been demolished in 1977; it is generally regarded as ugly and draughty.

Snow Hill is on the Leamington-Worcester Line and Chiltern Line so passengers alighting from the Midland Metro can catch trains to Dorridge, Kidderminster, Leamington Spa, London Marylebone, Stourbridge Junction, Shirley, Stratford-upon-Avon, Worcester Foregate Street and Worcester Shrub Hill.

Tel: 08457484950 (rail enquires) Tel: 0121 254 7272 (Metro) Address: Colmore Row B3 2BJ

Links: Business Quarter National Rail Enquiries Metro Website

Queensway Viaduct (Top Menu)

Heading north-westwards from Snow Hill Station, the Midland Metro travels alongside the Birmingham-Worcester Line on a viaduct above Queensway, Lionel Street, the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, Water Street and Henrietta Street before reaching the Saint Pauls Metro Stop in the Jewellery Quarter.

Links: Jewellery Quarter

Saint Pauls Metro Stop (Top Menu)

The Saint Pauls tram stop on the Midland Metro is roughly 100 metres from St Paul's Square in the Jewellery Quarter. Pedestrian access is from Constitution Hill.

The terminus at Snow Hill is roughly 350 metres to the south-east and is clearly visible from the tram stop. A blue-brick embankment, which carries Livery Street, runs alongside the stop before cutting across the tram lines at an acute angle.

Trams bound in both directions generally stop at 6-8 minute intervals during the day from Monday to Saturday and at 15 minute intervals in the evening and on Sunday.

Tel: 0121 254 7272 (Metro) Address: Constitution Hill

Links: Jewellery Quarter Metro Website

Hockley Tunnels (Top Menu)

Heading north-westwards from the Saint Pauls Tram Stop, the Midland Metro runs alongside the Leamington-Worcester line beneath Livery Street, Kenyon Street and Hall Street before entering the Hockley Tunnels and emerging at the Jewellery Quarter Station on Vyse Street.