Birmingham International railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Birmingham International | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Place | Birmingham Airport |
| Local authority | Solihull |
| Operations | |
| Managed by | Virgin Trains |
| Platforms in use | 5 |
| Annual entry/exit | 1.958 million * |
| Passenger Transport Executive | |
| PTE | West Midlands |
| Zone | 5 |
| History | |
| 1975 | Opened |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| * based on sales of tickets in 2002/03 financial year which end or originate at Birmingham International. Disclaimer (PDF) | |
Birmingham International railway station is located in the borough of Solihull, just east of the city of Birmingham in England.
The station is on the West Coast Main Line and serves both Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. The railway station lies next to the M42 motorway. The 'International' in its name refers to the airport, not to an international railway service. The station opened in 1975 and has regular train services to many parts of the country.
Virgin Trains provide services to London that originate from Birmingham or Wolverhampton. There is also a daily service each way from Manchester. Virgin Trains also provide services on the cross country line to Bournemouth, Reading, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. Local services to Coventry and Birmingham are provided by Central Trains.
[edit] Connection to Birmingham International Airport
A maglev service ran from the airport terminal to the railway station from 1984 until 1995. The train "flew" at an altitude of 15 mm over a track 600 m in length. It operated for nearly 11 years, but was scrapped because spare parts for the system were no longer available. It was temporarily replaced by a bus.
The chosen system, the Doppelmayr Cable Liner Shuttle, was announced in late 2000 and construction started in 2001. Although construction was essentially completed by early 2002, delays to start of construction of the new Interchange at the Station meant it was not possible to open the system until March 2003 when the Interchange was completed. The system was originally known as SkyRail but in 2004 it was renamed Air-Rail Link.
[edit] See also
