Passengers using Birmingham’s Snow Hill Station are to get a new entrance so they can switch seamlessly between local rail and tram services.

An image of how the new eastern entrance will look was released by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) today. The authority also announced the appointment of leading independent infrastructure specialist Barhale to build the £1.5 million project.

The scheme involves opening up another of the arches under the Victorian viaduct that carries trains and the West Midland Metro trams into the city centre.

At the moment passengers wanting to get from the West Midlands Metro stop at St Chads to trains in Snow Hill Station have to walk down a flight of external steps and then along A4440 Queensway before turning into Livery Street and accessing the station through its second entrance. Passengers also have the option of walking past Snowhill Three, Two and One and into the main Snow Hill entrance.

The new third entrance will remove this 150m walk and instead give passengers a direct way into the station from the tram stop.

Rail passengers wanting to catch a Metro service will also get direct access without having to leave the station.

Cllr Roger Lawrence, WMCA portfolio holder for transport, said: “This new entrance to Snow Hill is one of several exciting projects in our ambitious rail development programme which aims to transform rail travel in the West Midlands over the next few years.

“Building the eastern entrance is a positive improvement that we can deliver in the short term, with more ambitious future plans for the station being developed as part of the Snow Hill Growth Strategy”.

The £1.55m project will see Barhale construct the entrance beneath the existing brick arch viaduct which is enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall at the station’s Livery Street end, where the second entrance was built more than a decade ago.

Work on the new entrance is set to start in summer 2019, and it will link into the existing Livery Street entrance to the station.

Paul Edwards, contracts manager at Barhale, said: “The main challenge for construction will be to break through the reinforced concrete wall at the Livery Street end of the station to form the new access.

“This is in the operational side of the station and so the works will take place outside of station opening hours with dust proof screens erected to keep out debris. This will allow ‘business as usual’ at Snow Hill station during the works.”

The finished scheme will ensure a step free access between street level and the point of connection to the existing second entrance.

New ticketing, security and travel information facilities will also be provided in the new entrance as well as wayfinding signage between the entrance and the St Chads Metro stop.

The new entrance is expected to be in operation in late 2019 with Metro and rail services unaffected during the construction period.

ENDS

More information from the WMCA Media Office on 0121 214 7073/ 07788 7794241/ or 0121 214 7278 or 0121 214 7651 email: media@wmca.org.ukm

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Notes to Editors:

• The West Midlands Combined Authority was created on 17th June 2016. It comprises:

Constituent members:

Birmingham City Council, City of Wolverhampton Council, Coventry City Council, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council.

Non-constituent authorities with reduced voting rights:

Cannock Chase District Council; Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council; Redditch Borough Council; Tamworth Borough Council; Telford and Wrekin Council; North Warwickshire Borough Council; Rugby Borough Council; Stratford-on-Avon District Council; Shropshire Council; Warwickshire County Council.

LEPs

LEPs (Local Enterprise Partnerships) are voluntary partnerships between local authorities and businesses. They determine local economic priorities and lead on economic growth and job creation within their areas. They are:

Black Country LEP

Coventry and Warwickshire LEP

Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP

Observer organisations awaiting membership

Herefordshire Council

The Marches LEP