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| Chiltern 68 015 and 168 110 at the two bay platforms |
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Type: | National Rail (Snow Hill Lines) |
| Station code: | BMO |
| Opened: | 1908 |
| Platforms: | 4 |
Birmingham Moor Street was built by the Great Western Railway to relieve pressure on Birmingham Snow Hill. Local GWR services from the South terminated at Moor Street instead, the other side of the Snow Hill tunnels. Moor Street became a terminus in 1968 with the closure of Snow Hill and the tunnels.
Moor Street itself became run down and depreciated during the 1970s and was under threat of closure itself, being the poor relation compared to Birmingham New Street which is a short walk away. There is no direct rail connection between the two stations though Moor Street was built on top of the LNWR lines running into New Street. The large goods yard at Moor Street was closed in 1972. [1]
Birmingham Snow Hill (and the tunnels) reopened in the mid-1980s. Two new through platforms were built at Moor Street for these lines (and the three original terminating platforms closed). A new entrance built and canopies of the at-the-time common style of corrugated metal (as still used at stations like University). [2]
With Network South East running through services from London Marylebone to Moor Street in the early 1990s the station began to thrive again. To cope with demand, two of the terminus bay platforms were restored to service and the whole station was renovated in the early 2000s by Chiltern Railways (who manage the station) and the Birmingham Alliance. Moor Street could be further expanded in the 2020s under plans to improve West Midlands rail, with two extra bay platforms being built and services to Kings Norton and Tamworth added to the station. Moor Street will be next to the new HS2 terminus Birmingham Curzon Street.
Moor Street was restored as a GWR station using the style common in the interwar period. The original station building has been the base around which everything else has been rebuilt with the 1980s entrance demolished and new canopies and signage matching the period. Moor Street was used to represent an early 1970s London Marylebone in the BBC spy drama "The Game", the station needing little redressing.
One feature of the old station not restored were the locomotive traversers used on the original terminus lines. These allowed locomotives to be switched to an adjacent track taking up less space than a traditional cross-over [3].
The station has services to destinations like London Marylebone, Stratford-upon-Avon and Worcester Shrub Hill.
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| Chiltern 165 001 prepares to depart |
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| Main concourse |
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| In London Midland days 172 345 arrives at the station |
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| Station exterior |
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| Chiltern 168 322 arrives in the early morning mist |
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Banbury to Birmingham (Middleton Press, 2015) fig. 107
[2] Ibid. fig. 109
[3] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham (Moor Street) (Middleton Press, 2006) fig. 116
