Passengers will be able to travel on Birmingham’s Camp Hill railway line by the end of this year, West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said.
The line was closed to passenger trains during the Second World War.
Construction of new stations at Kings Heath, Moseley Village and Pineapple Road is on schedule.
Work on related infrastructure, including pedestrian crossings and footbridges, is also progressing well.
The project is led by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), and the West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE), in partnership with Birmingham City Council, the Department of Transport, Network Rail and West Midlands Trains.
Reopened railway will ‘boost local business’
The mayor said the reopened line will “bring people into the area and that will support local businesses.”
Matt Powell, manager of the Kings Heath Business Improvement District, said the line would “open up even more opportunities for our businesses and residents.”
Denise Wetton, Network Rail’s Central route director, said the reopened line would offer local people a “regular and reliable green travel option, reducing congestion on local roads.”
Passenger services ran on the Camp Hill line for more than after it opened as part of the Birmingham and Gloucester railway in 1840. But the stations closed in 1941. Since then the line has been used only by freight and non-stop through-services.
