On April 7, three new railway stations opened at Pineapple Road, Kings Heath and Moseley Village, and with them, the Camp Hill line. Yes, brand new stations, but ones which reopened where their historic counterparts once stood. It was euphoric news: people living in these areas would have a direct route by train to the city centre for the first time since the original line closed in 1941 — mid World War II — due to coal shortages.
Transport staff were on hand to distribute goodie bags and Richard Parker pitched up to take a photo. In his post on X, he’s shown leaning against a Camp Hill station sign under a stretch of soaring blue sky. His post is upbeat: “Today is a great day for Birmingham as passengers ride on the Camp Hill line for the first time in 80 years.” He continues: “When I took over, the project was heavily delayed and over budget. We got a grip and the fantastic team worked around the clock to get delivered.”
Cue storm clouds. “Absolutely no shame.” says @mattcullen1974. “We know who got this sorted. Not you.” An Aston Villa fan site takes a break from issuing football updates to respond: “Trying to take credit for Andy Street and then discredit him. Vile man!” “Erm.. not sure it was you who got this over the line, many of my colleagues worked their asses off for years and now you come to take the glory?” says @winwithmelanin. “Stolen valour if we’ve ever seen it”, says @Arjo_97. The comments continue in this vein.
When I try out the line for myself, the 08.20am train from Kings Heath to Birmingham New Street feels oddly subdued for rush hour, with just three of us waiting on the platform. I point this out to a man next to me and he shrugs. People are set in their routines, he says. This number of people is similar to the afternoon before, where there’s only a few of us waiting for the 15.57pm train to Kings Norton. Amongst them is Sarah, who lives in Moseley, and who is standing at New Street clutching her Camp Hill line tote bag — she was one of the locals who went to visit the new Moseley Village station on the very first day. Some residents thought it was never going to open, I learn. After years of delays, Sarah is one of a few who tell me they had almost given up hope.
This is fair — it’s been a long time coming. Plans to reopen the stations closed to passengers for over 80 years were announced in 2018, with government funding secured under the then Mayor Andy Street. The business case for the project was fully approved in 2021 with initial completion set for mid 2023, and total costs estimated to be at £61.4m. Since then, there have been delays caused by badger setts along the line in Moseley, an 8.2m well at Kings Heath, and a Victorian brick wall at Pineapple Road which had to be preserved along with rising cost pressures. And in the middle of all this chaos? A mayoral election.
The back and forths and delays have now created the perfect conditions for a political tug-of-war between Richard Parker, the current Mayor of the West Midlands, and Andy Street, the former. But, the more I dig into the circuitous route this new line has taken to finally open, the more I start to wonder: who got it over the line?
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