Major HS2 Work to Disrupt Birmingham Rail Services Across Two Weekends

Rail passengers travelling through Birmingham are being warned about significant disruption across two weekends in June while major HS2 construction work takes place in the Saltley and Washwood areas.

The work will affect services between Birmingham New Street station and Coleshill Parkway railway station on Saturday 6 to Sunday 7 June and again on Saturday 13 to Sunday 14 June.

Network Rail engineers are supporting HS2 teams as they demolish Saltley Viaduct and Aston Church Road bridge, both of which currently span the railway between Birmingham and Water Orton railway station. The structures are being replaced to make way for the new high-speed railway underneath.

The disruption will impact routes including services between:

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

Rail replacement bus services will operate between Birmingham New Street and Coleshill Parkway during both weekends, with passengers advised to allow extra time for journeys.

Patrick Cawley, director of on network works for Network Rail and HS2, said:

“Over two weekends in June, HS2 teams will complete vital work to demolish two structures spanning the railway between Birmingham and Water Orton, to make way for the next phase of Britian’s new high-speed railway to be built. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience and remind them to check before they travel with National Rail Enquiries or CrossCountry.”

Ben Simkin, regional director covering the East Midlands for CrossCountry, said:

“We’re sorry for the disruption caused for CrossCountry customers during this essential engineering work. Rail replacement bus services will be in operation on parts of some CrossCountry services, and other journeys will take longer over the weekends affected. I’d ask those travelling over these weekends in June to check their journey and leave more time to get to where they need to be. We’d like to thank our customers for their patience while this important work takes place to support the future of the rail network.”

Image: Network Rail