S TATI O N N EWS
VACANCI ES
There are a lot of organisational changes at New Street station at the moment, because of this, we require staff from the cRT and cSA teams to step forward and become representatives with the RMT. union issues are vital to the staff at the station, but at present are under represented by the staff. We are calling for you to give your experience and time for this. If you have wanted to get involved, now is the time to do so. With so many changes at the station it is a very exciting time, you can help the staff move forward in so many ways. We will also require a new Health and Safety representative to work along side Stephen Alder (the current rep) from these teams. For further information on becoming a health and safety rep please contact either Stephen alder on Stephen.alder@networkrail.co.uk or your RMT branch secretary.
New Street Metro
Within Birmingham there are three main stations, Birmingham New Street, Moor Street and Snow Hill Station, all within the city centre. At present any passengers wishing transfer between New Street and the other two face a 10-15 minute walk. currently the Metro (tram service) operates between Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton. currently under way is an extension that will lead from Snow Hill and run 0.7 miles and link up to Birmingham New Street Station. At a cost of £75.4M the new route will run on to Bull Street and down corporation Street and then onto Stephenson street to link up with the new entrance of the station. There has not been a tram in the city centre since 1953, but will be well worth the wait.
Expected to be opened in 2015 the project is expected to raise £50m per annum to the local economy and create 15oo jobs. The extension will be a great benefit to the passengers of New Street; they will not have to make the walk from station to station. A new fleet of Trams will be introduced to cope with a large number of passengers; around 200 people can be carried on one service, seating 50 of them. There will also be 2 wheel chair spaces. The link will also add to the redevelopment of the station with an extra boost to the city centre, it will open the city so people can travel from one corner of the city to the other with ease. The New Street View Newsletter on a monthly basis will feature updates on the progress with pictures.
Out and about at Sutton Coldfield Train Station Sutton coldfield Train Station was built in 1862 and is 7.5 miles from Birmingham city centre. It was the terminus from Birmingham until 1884 when it was extended to Lichfield. From 1978 the station was known as part of the cross city Line, although there were plans to demolish it until campaigners saved the day. In 1955, the station became well known for a train crash that killed 17 people and injured 43, still Birmingham’s worst ever train crash. A York to Bristol service which was carrying 300 people was diverted via Sutton due to maintenance work, turned a bend too quickly which resulted in ten carriages overturning.