Birmingham International railway station

Birmingham International is a railway station located in the borough of Solihull, just east of the city of Birmingham in England.

The station is on the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line 14 km (8½ miles) east of Birmingham New Street and serves both Birmingham 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, though it remains to be seen whether the name will be changed as the name of the airport no longer uses the word 'International'. The station opened on 26 January 1976[1] and has regular train services to many parts of the country.

The station is managed by Virgin Trains and is also served by CrossCountry, London Midland and Arriva Trains Wales. It has five platforms, consisting of two islands and one side platform numbered 1-5 from south to north.

The station at platform level.

Contents
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 * 1 Services
 * 2 Connection to Birmingham Airport
 * 3 Connection to the National Exhibition Centre
 * 4 High Speed 2
 * 5 See also
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

Services[edit]
The basic off-peak service is as follows:

Virgin Trains During rush hour certain Virgin services to/from London Euston start and terminate here.
 * 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 Wolverhampton.

CrossCountry London Midland Arriva Trains Wales
 * 1 train per hour to Manchester Piccadilly.
 * 1 train per hour to Bournemouth via Reading.
 * 5 trains per hour to Birmingham New Street.
 * 3 trains per hour to London Euston via Northampton.
 * 1 train per hour to Northampton.
 * 1 train per hour to Coventry.
 * 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.

Connection to Birmingham Airport[edit]
AirRail Link people mover system showing the track and pulley system

Main article: AirRail Link

A maglev service ran from the airport terminal to the Birmingham International railway 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 DCC 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 international airport can also be reached via a dedicated fast bus service from Coleshill Parkway station, on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line.

Connection to the National Exhibition Centre[edit]
Under cover walkways, escalators and Travelators connect the NEC buildings to the Birmingham International railway station and to the Air-Rail Link, which in turn connects to Birmingham International Airport.

High Speed 2[edit]
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.[2]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.