The Birmingham Rail Line will be closed for motorway repairs

The Cross City line between Birmingham and Lichfield will be closed from Monday to Saturday next week to allow Birmingham City Council to repair the Tame Valley Viaduct.

The viaduct carries the A38(M) over the railway between Gravelly Hill and Aston stations and the Cross City line will be closed from Monday 27 May to Saturday 1 June and will reopen on Sunday 2 June.

The closure of the Cross City line is necessary for safety reasons and has been co-ordinated between Birmingham City Council, Network Rail and West Midlands Railway.

Repairs to the viaduct are part of a 4½-year project to strengthen the main structure, sandblast and repaint its steel girders and repair the concrete.

During the closure, a rail replacement bus service will operate between Lichfield Trent Valley and Birmingham New Street.

While the line is closed, Network Rail will take the opportunity to carry out maintenance on the line, including:

• Vegetation trimming and management.
• Maintaining overhead power lines to ensure they are ready for hot weather.
• Replacement and testing and signaling cables between Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield Trent Valley stations
• Creation of a new access point near Aston station to provide faster track access for Network Rail staff.

As well as the Cross City Line closure, the West Coast Main Line will be closed over the late May bank holiday weekend due to major engineering works.

This closure will affect train services between London Euston and Scotland.

Full details of the service changes can be found online at www.nationalrail.co.uk.

I know this closure will affect a lot of people and I’m sorry for the inconvenience it will cause. The work of Birmingham City Council is essential to keep the A38(M) in the city center safe and open, so we have been working with them and West Midlands Railway to make this possible.

We will take the opportunity to complete our own essential maintenance of the line between Birmingham and Lichfield, which will help make journeys more reliable for passengers in the future.

Please check with West Midlands Railway or National Rail Inquiries for the latest travel information.

Steven Ireland, Head of Stations and Customer Relations at Network Rail