We’ve all done it, looking up at a platform board and realising a train is about to depart within a couple of minutes. At Birmingham New Street (one of the busier train stations outside of London), you’re going to need a little more time to get to the train before departure.
Looking down to Birmingham New Street Station from Grand Central
Network Rail has announced that train doors at Birmingham New Street are to close up to 40 seconds before departure to help services leave the station on time. The new timings – a 10-second increase for some services- were agreed between Network Rail and the train operators/
This came into force on Sunday 10th November and is in force across all the platforms and with all operators, including West Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway, Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry and Transport for Wales.
The change from 30 to 40 seconds to doors closing is being introduced to ensure passengers are safely on board in plenty of time to then allow the train to depart on time.
In Quotes
Steven Ireland, head of stations, security and customer relationship management for Network Rail’s Central route, said:
“This change will help passengers have a more reliable and on time journey from Birmingham New Street.
“At this time of year, when we see an increase in visitors for the Christmas markets and events across the city, the station and platform can get really busy. While only a 10 second increase for some services, that extra time allows for everything to be in place to allow the train to leave on time and help to reduce any delays to passengers.”
Lucy Wootton, head of Grand Railway Collaboration which represents the five train operators which serve Birmingham New Street, said:
“At the moment, the time at which the doors close is inconsistent across services – some are 30 seconds and some are 40 seconds. A consistent door closure time of 40 seconds before departure will make it easier for passengers to plan their journeys and will help to allow more services and passengers leave the station on time.”
It’s a busy time of year
According to Network Rail, Birmingham New Street is the busiest station outside of London and welcomes around a million passengers every week. On weekends, in the build-up to Christmas, an average of 175,000 people use the station each Saturday and Sunday on their way to and from the Christmas market, shops, bars, and restaurants in the city centre.
It seems the play here is that having a consistent time for doors to be closed before departure should help trains leave on time from the station and hopefully prevent some delays.
However, as passengers, you’ll need to be extra vigilant for your train times (be it through the National Rail site or what’s displayed on the departure boards, and arrive in time for your train.
Least of all, 10 seconds might not seem a lot – but they could make the difference between you on a train… or stuck on a platform, waiting for the next one.
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