Birmingham International railway station

The station was designed by the architect Ray Moorcroft and opened on 26 January 1976,[1] and has regular train services to many parts of the country. It was named Birmingham International after the adjacent airport which was at the time named Birmingham International Airport, but has since been rebranded as Birmingham Airport.

The station is managed by Avanti West Coast and is also served by CrossCountry, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Trains. It has five platforms, consisting of two islands and one side platform numbered 1-5 from south to north.

The station at platform level.

The basic off-peak service is as follows:

Avanti West Coast[2]

• 3 trains per hour to London Euston
• 2 trains per hour to Birmingham New Street
• 1 train per hour to Glasgow Central/Edinburgh Waverley (alternating each hour) via Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton
• 2 trains per day to Shrewsbury

During rush hour certain Avanti West Coast services to/from London Euston start and terminate here.

Transport for Wales[3]

• 1 train per hour to Shrewsbury, of which:
  • 1 train per two hours continues to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli after dividing at Machynlleth
  • 1 train per two hours continues to Holyhead via Wrexham General and Chester

CrossCountry[4]

• 1 train per hour to Manchester Piccadilly
• 1 train per hour to Bournemouth via Reading

West Midlands Trains [5]

• 3 trains per hour to Birmingham New Street, of which 2 continues to Liverpool Lime Street
• 3 trains per hour to London Euston via Northampton
• 1 train per hour to Rugeley Trent Valley

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		Transport for Wales Birmingham - Chester		Birmingham New Street
		Transport for Wales Cambrian Line
Hampton-in-Arden		West Midlands Railway Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford line		Marston Green or Birmingham New Street
Terminus		West Midlands Railway Birmingham-Rugeley
Hampton-in-Arden or Berkswell		London Northwestern Railway Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line		Marston Green or Birmingham New Street
Coventry		Avanti West Coast West Coast Main Line		Birmingham New Street
Coventry		CrossCountry Bournemouth-Manchester		Birmingham New Street
Preceding station		AirRail Link		Following station
Terminus		AirRail Link (Formerly Maglev)		Birmingham Airport

AirRail Link people mover system showing the track and pulley system

A maglev service ran from the airport terminal to the station from 1984 until 1995. The train "flew" at an altitude of 15 mm over a track 620 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 replacement system, the Doppelmayr Cable Car Cable Liner Shuttle, was announced in late 2000 and construction started in 2001. The Interchange was opened in March 2003. The system was originally known as SkyRail but in 2004 it was renamed AirRail Link.

The airport can also be reached via a dedicated fast bus service from Coleshill Parkway station, on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line.

Under cover walkways, escalators and Travelators connect the NEC buildings to the station and to the Air-Rail Link, which in turn connects to Birmingham Airport.

The proposed 'Birmingham Interchange'

A new Birmingham Interchange railway station is to be built on the other side of the M42 motorway from the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham Airport and this station.[6] The new interchange would be connected by a "rapid transit people mover" to the other sites; the AirRail Link people mover already operates between Birmingham International station and the airport.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Birmingham International railway station.

• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Birmingham International station