Sutton Coldfield railway station

Sutton Coldfield
A Class 323 train entering Sutton Coldfield Railway Station in 2024.
General information
Location	Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham England
Coordinates	52°33′50″N 1°49′26″W / 52.564°N 1.824°W / 52.564; -1.824
Grid reference	SP118963
Managed by	West Midlands Railway
Transit authority	Transport for West Midlands
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	SUT
Fare zone	4
Classification	DfT category D
Key dates
2 June 1862	Opened
2003	Renovated
Passengers
2019/20	1.720 million
2020/21	0.313 million
2021/22	0.645 million
2022/23	0.805 million
2023/24	0.937 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Sutton Coldfield railway station is the main railway station for the town of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is situated on the Redditch/Bromsgrove-Birmingham New Street-Four Oaks-Lichfield Cross-City Line 7+1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) north east of Birmingham New Street.

The station is of Victorian architecture with red brick and elaborate ceilings and pillars. One platform is sheltered while the other is open air. The main building itself is built on a hill with a tunnel running underneath it. It is accessed via Station Street and Railway Road.

The station was constructed in 1862, as the northern terminus of the line from Birmingham built by the London and North Western Railway. In 1884, the line was extended north to Lichfield, and after the grouping of railway companies in 1923, it came under the control of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

The station was the location of the Sutton Coldfield train disaster on 23 January 1955 when an express from York to Bristol travelling at excessive speed derailed. A memorial to the 17 people who died was unveiled in the station concourse on 23 January 2016.^[1]

From 1978, the station became one of those served by the new Cross-City Line, sponsored by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive. As part of that scheme, there were proposals to demolish the station and rebuild it, as happened to many of the other stations on the line. However, local campaigning saved it.

Following the provision of a large sum of money in 2003, the station underwent a programme of refurbishment. Many new facilities were provided, and repair work was undertaken to the station building. The southbound platform was repainted and a former wooden ticket office removed because it had become a target for vandalism and concerns were raised about its fire safety. A new ticket vending machine was placed on the platform which reduced queues at the ticket office in the main building. A station shop and a new waiting room were provided. On the northbound platform, the small waiting room was replaced with new seats. Passenger information system boards were also installed on both platforms which provides passengers with up-to-the-minute information on train times. The interior of the station was also repainted and the ticket office in the main building was extended.

The station is served by West Midlands Trains with local Transport for West Midlands branded "Cross-City" services, operated using Class 323 Electric multiple units (EMUs)^[2] until September 2024 and currently by Class 730 EMUs.^[3]

The off-peak service pattern is as follows:

Mondays to Saturdays:

• 4tph northbound to Four Oaks, departing from Platform 1.
  • Of which:
    • 2tph continue to Lichfield Trent Valley via Lichfield City.
• 4tph southbound to Longbridge via Birmingham New Street and University, departing from Platform 2.
  • Of which:
    • 2tph continue to Redditch via Alvechurch, calling at all stations.
    • 2tph continue to Bromsgrove calling at all stations except Duddeston, 1tph does not call at Barnt Green.

Sundays:

• 2tph northbound to Lichfield Trent Valley.
• 2tph southbound to Redditch.

Services on Sundays call at all stations between Lichfield T.V. and Redditch.

The average journey time to Birmingham New Street is around 21 minutes.^[4][5]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Four Oaks		West Midlands Railway Lichfield – Four Oaks – Birmingham – Bromsgrove/Redditch Cross-City Line		Wylde Green

• An Historical Survey Of Selected LMS Stations Vol. One Dr R Preston and R Powell Hendry. Oxford Pub. Co. (1982, Reprinted in 2001) ISBN 0-86093-168-4

• Train times and station information for Sutton Coldfield railway station from National Rail
• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Sutton Coldfield railway station
• Railways of Warwickshire entry
• BBC Page on the January 1955 accident