Mayor's new target date to have Birmingham’s three new Camp Hill line railway stations finished

West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said he was pleased with the progress of the Camp Hill Line project, which will see stations created at Kings Heath, Moseley and Pineapple Road.

In July last year, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) announced the scheme, alongside a raft of other major projects in the region, was to be delayed by a year in the wake of £121 million budget pressures as a result of soaring costs.

This was the second delay to hit the project after it was originally due to be scheduled for completion in 2023.

The news prompted West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker to call for a review of all current and planned projects, saying he had concerns over the funding, delivery and delay while also accusing his predecessor Andy Street of making “grand promises” which weren’t being delivered.

In turn, Mr Street said he was saddened to see party politics being played over the issue, adding he had “bequeathed to the new Mayor billions in devolved transport funding” for the projects.

Mr Parker met with Network Rail, contractors alongside TfWM officers at Kings Heath on Thursday (April 3) to check on how it is going.

Work is currently progressing on the lift shaft which will carry passengers from the High Street down to the platforms when the station is open.

A new bridge, along with a staircase, which will span the tracks and connect the two platforms is anticipated to be installed in the second week of June.

Mr Parker said: “I’m really please with the progress we’ve made.

“When I got elected I inherited a position where I had to announce there would be major delays and overspends in major projects.

“At that time, I announced an independent review into the way we deliver major projects and with regards to these three stations we have a new plan in place, new contractual and commercial arrangements.

“I met the contractors and Network Rail, along with staff from Transport for West Midlands this morning and everyone is working to the same plan and objective.

“We’re monitoring progress on a weekly basis and I’m really pleased we are now on plan to get these three stations built and completed by the end of this calendar year.

“We’re currently work with our parties to ensure the trains are running on these lines as soon as possible.”

He added: “We’re currently planning on two trains an hours. We’ll monitor the demands for those trains if work with Network Rail and other parties if we need to increase those.

“At the moment, that’s the plan and that is informed by passenger analysis and expectations of demand.

“The most important thing is we will have a train line running through this part of Birmingham into the city centre twice an hour, helping relieve congestion on the roads and improving connectivity.”