250mph trains to run past Balsall Common

A 250mph high speed train line will run across the top of Balsall Common, detailed plans show. Click the link below to read.

49 minute London trains backed

THE Government today backed running a high speed train line near to Birmingham International – raising the prospect of 49 minute journeys to London.

Ministers want to build a new station in the area of the existing station and by the National Exhibition Centre.

The move would cut journey times from an hour and 24 minutes said ministers and trains would take about seven minutes to International.

Although in the Green Belt a report said the station would be acceptable under planning law as it is ‘bordered on all sides by motorways and airport infrastructure’ (see map below).

Local MPs today welcomed the news, which will lead to a full public consultation which could see a route open by 2026.

Solihull MP Lorely Burt said: “This is brilliant news for the whole West Midlands.

“That High speed rail will come straight into Birmingham means that Birmingham will be just a short commute from London: a realistic alternative for companies who want to be close to the capital but not have to pay capital prices or suffer capital congestion.”

She said the move would boost the NEC and, coupled with a runway extension, be the ‘icing on the cake’ for Birmingham International Airport.

Meriden MP Caroline Spelman said: “This will give a much needed boost for Birmingham Airport and the NEC and provide a shot in the arm for the West Midlands economy as we have been badly hit by the recession.”

Yet laws which compensate people affected by the line had to be changed, she said and added: “I want to ensure that the effect to people along the route is minimised.”

She was previously accused of going cold on support for the long-mooted plans.

Yet the BBC reports that shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said the party were not prepared to "blindly accept" the route.

View New station in a larger map