After nearly two decades of hopes and plans, the Midland Rail Hub could finally be on the right track after funding promise
14:15, 11 Jun 2025Updated 14:51, 11 Jun 2025
Kings Norton Station, which appears to be in line for an upgrade that will allow for more trains per hour on the cross city line
Long-held hopes for a major rail improvement scheme to increase train frequency and routes in and out of Birmingham were boosted today after chancellor Rachel Reeves promised some funding as part of her transport infrastructure bonanza.
She told the House of Commons this afternoon: “I can announce today that I’m providing funding for the Midlands Rail Hub, the region’s biggest and most ambitious rail improvement scheme for generations, strengthening connections from Birmingham across the West Midlands and into Wales.”
We understand this does not amount to a pledge to fund the entire £1.75 billion package of measures.
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Instead it’s likely to include a commitment to fund completion of a full, detailed business case, previously promised by the Conservatives, and to pay for work to upgrade platforms at the busy Kings Norton station to ensure more frequent trains can be introduced on the cross city line.
This will, in turn, improve the frequency of services for all places along the cross city line from Bromsgrove and Barnt Green to Lichfield, via locations including Longbridge, Selly Oak, Five Ways, and on to Erdington, Gravelly Hill and Sutton Coldfield. We understand exact details of the funding will be announced in the coming days.
The announcement was made in the chancellor’s Spending Review.
It comes on top of the £2.4 billion of funding already unveiled for transport schemes across the West Midlands, including the green light for a new Metro tram extension to East Birmingham and North Solihull.
Other highlights of the Spending Review include:
- Rise in spending on the NHS of £29 billion overall, a real-terms three per cent-a-year rise
- The “biggest cash injection into social and affordable housing in 50 years”, worth £39bn over the next decade.
- £2.3bn a year to fix and maintain existing schools, and £2.4bn on building new schools
- £30bn in investment in nuclear power, of which about half will go to the Sizewell C reactor, plus new money for small modular nuclear reactors and for research into nuclear fusion
- Up to £280m for the new Border Security Command in three years, and a promise to stop all spending on hotels for asylum seekers by 2029.
- Investment in rail, airports and buses, including a boost to Northern Powerhouse Rail and East West Rail
- £13.2bn fund to fix draughty homes and install heat pumps and solar panels
- £350m for facilities such as parks, libraries and swimming pools in a series of towns across the country
- Disappointingly there is no plan announced to lift the two child benefit cap for families but the Chancellor speaks of investments in free school meals and breakfast clubs.
Laurence Turner, MP for Birmingham Northfield, said: “The details need to be confirmed but this looks like brilliant news for Birmingham.
“An upgrade to Kings Norton station is at the heart of the Midlands Rail Hub project. We need these works to return to six trains an hour on the Cross-City from Longbridge and Northfield as well as Kings Norton.
“I’ve raised this project repeatedly in Parliament and I’m delighted the pressure has paid off. This investment will convert into jobs and wages, and less congested roads – it’s a great day for the city.”
Maria Machancoses, Chief Executive of Midlands Connect, said: “This marks a major milestone in this transformational, nationally significant project. Midlands Rail Hub is our flagship scheme, the result of years of collaboration and determination by cross-party leaders from all corners of the Midlands.
“It will deliver a step-change for passengers, for communities and ultimately for the Government’s central mission of economic growth. In this region, we need improved transport connections, and Midlands Rail Hub will help make that happen.
“The project will create new jobs, improve access to opportunities and boost growth. It will also provide tailored apprenticeship schemes, as well as boosting much-needed house building.”
What is Midlands Rail Hub?
It is described as the region’s biggest and most ambitious rail improvement scheme – a £1.75bn blueprint for faster, better and more frequent connections across the Midlands.
It’s been in the offing for nearly two decades but, despite millions of pounds worth of reports and planning, not a single element of it has yet come to pass – even though it’s seen as vital to enhance the public transport offering locally and to unlock jobs and opportunities.
The scheme would add up to 300 additional trains on the rail network per day into or out of Birmingham and provide faster, more frequent or new rail links for more than 50 locations including Nottingham, Leicester, Bromsgrove, Nuneaton, Worcester, Hereford and Cardiff.
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Midlands Rail Hub would complete two ‘chords’ at Bordesley, just east of Birmingham city centre, as well as more than ten ‘engineering interventions’ throughout the region that would offer up to 20 million extra seats for passengers through the Midlands and beyond.
West Chord includes improvements between Bordesley and Moor Street, allowing access to Birmingham Moor Street from the south west and Wales, and allowing additional trains towards Worcester, Hereford, Bristol and Cardiff.
East Chord creates an access to Birmingham Moor Street from the East Midlands, allowing direct access for trains from cities such as Leicester, Derby and Nottingham.
The Midlands Rail Hub project is co-sponsored by Midlands Connect, the Department for Transport and West Midlands Rail Executive.
The entire scheme would provide for:
- More rail journeys
- Shorter journey times
- Boost economic growth – with claims that every pound of investment would generate over £1.50 in benefits, inclusive of those to the wider economy Safeguard jobs – by creating over 300 apprenticeships and 13,000 jobs as part of the supply chain
- Environmentally friendly – by putting more freight and people on rail not roads
- Supporting housing – by opening the door to more than 20,000 new homes to be built every year