‘Destroying the chicken farm to make an omlette’: Are Birmingham’s rail upgrades going to derail its creatives?

Running full speed in an attempt to make the last train home is perhaps my fondest memory of my personal social debutante years. Growing up on the outer fringes of the region meant that evenings spent at Mama Roux’s ended, invariably, with me high-tailing through the city centre towards New Street. But it was worth it, because Digbeth was our mini cultural mecca; offering as it did the kind of experimental gig nights you’d be hard pushed to locate in Tamworth. 

Under the Bordesley viaduct we swore sacred oaths: to fly-poster local car parks and organise artsy alternative nights. In doing so we would surely set the benchmark for rural suburban generations to come. 

But the world has changed since then — and our precious viaduct has taken on new meaning. It now forms the central pressure point in relieving the bloated rail hub serving much of Birmingham. 

Over the summer, plans were set out to ease the burden on New Street. It gets a bit technical, but these include two additional railway chords — short tracks connecting an existing line to Moor Street — and new Cross City lines serving Lichfield to Bromsgrove. The viaduct is key: while it currently mostly serves south-east Birmingham, capacity enhancements at Moor Street would mean it would also serve the south-west of the city. All in all, the improvements should mean better links to the east midlands, easing access to cities in the north-east. Then New Street will be able to finally unbutton its trousers and take a breath. 

But there’s a caveat, and it can be found in Digbeth.