Northfield railway station

The station was opened on 1 September 1870 by the Midland Railway. In 1892, the line through Northfield was quadrupled (though only the inner pair of lines had platform access).[1]

In 1913 it was the subject of an arson attack by suffragettes. The fire was extinguished before serious damage was done.[2]

The station was placed under threat of closure in 1963, when the suburban service to Redditch was listed for withdrawal in the Beeching Report and its frequency cut significantly. Following widespread public opposition and a campaign by local MPs, the route was subsequently reprieved in 1965 but for the next thirteen years it only received a limited service (just four return trips per day to & from New Street).

In May 1978, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive launched the new Cross City line suburban service, which linked the existing New Street to Lichfield route to a revamped service along the former Midland main line through Kings Norton to a newly re-sited terminus at Longbridge. One completely new station was opened at University (Birmingham), two others reopened and the remainder rebuilt & upgraded. Northfield received new slow line platforms as part of the £7.4 million upgrade package.[3] and other improvements to the designs of the architect John Broome[4] Since then, the station has received a regular interval service from Birmingham and a variety of other improvements (notably the extension of the route at both ends in the 1980s and electrification in 1993).

In 2013, lifts were built on both sides of the subway to allow disabled access to both platforms.

It currently has two operational platforms, numbered '1' and '4', with a disused island platform in the centre of the four-track lines.

All rail services at the station are provided by West Midlands Trains, on the Cross-City Line.

All the services at this station are operated by Class 323s electric trains.

Service Frequency:

6 trains per hour in each direction (every 10 minutes) at peak times (Mon-Sat daytimes).

4 trains per hour in each direction (every 10 or 20 minutes) at off-peak times (Mon-Sat evenings, and all day Sunday).

Northbound services terminate at either Four Oaks, Lichfield City, Lichfield Trent Valley, or (some Mon-Sat evening services only) Birmingham New Street.

Southbound services terminate at either Bromsgrove or Redditch.[7]

National Express West Midlands route 48 (Northfield - West Bromwich) stops on nearby Church Hill.

Kev’s Cars and Coaches route 19 (Maypole - Rubery) stops directly outside the station building.

The station has a ticket office and Automated Ticket Machines. The station is also equipped with Real-Time Information boards and recorded announcements.

The station has a small car park, provided free by Transport for West Midlands.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Kings Norton		West Midlands Railway Cross-City Line		Longbridge

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northfield railway station.

• Train times and station information for Northfield railway station from National Rail
• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Northfield railway station
• Warwickshire Railways page