Northfield railway station


Northfield railway station serves the Northfield area of Birmingham, England. It is situated on the Cross-City Line, and is managed by West Midlands Trains, who also operate all of the rail services that serve it.

History

The station was opened on 1 September 1870 by the Midland Railway. In 1892, the line through Northfield was quadrupled.
In 1913 it was the subject of an arson attack by suffragettes. The fire was extinguished before serious damage was done.
The station was placed under threat of closure in 1963, when the suburban service to Redditch was listed for withdrawal in the Beeching Report and its frequency cut significantly. Following widespread public opposition and a campaign by local MPs, the route was subsequently reprieved in 1965 but for the next thirteen years it only received a limited service.
In May 1978, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive launched the new Cross City line suburban service, which linked the existing New Street to Lichfield route to a revamped service along the former Midland main line through Kings Norton to a newly re-sited terminus at. One completely new station was opened at, two others reopened and the remainder rebuilt & upgraded. Northfield received new slow line platforms as part of the £7.4 million upgrade package. and other improvements to the designs of the architect John Broome Since then, the station has received a regular interval service from Birmingham and a variety of other improvements.
In 2013, lifts were built on both sides of the subway to allow disabled access to both platforms.
It currently has two operational platforms, numbered '1' and '4', with a disused island platform in the centre of the four-track lines.

Station masters

All rail services at the station are provided by West Midlands Trains, on the Cross-City Line.
All the services at this station are operated by Class 323s electric trains.
Service Frequency:
6 trains per hour in each direction at peak times.
4 trains per hour in each direction at off-peak times.
Northbound services terminate at either Four Oaks, Lichfield City, Lichfield Trent Valley, or Birmingham New Street.
Southbound services terminate at either Bromsgrove or Redditch.

Connections

route 48 stops on nearby Church Hill.
Kev’s Cars and Coaches route 19 stops directly outside the station building.

Facilities

The station has a ticket office and Automated Ticket Machines. The station is also equipped with Real-Time Information boards and recorded announcements.
The station has a small car park, provided free by Transport for West Midlands.