New Perry Barr railway station gets go-ahead

A new railway station for Perry Barr has been given the green light by Birmingham City Council.

The council’s planning committee voted through revised proposals for the station 9-1.

The station is being redeveloped as part of the £500m regeneration of Perry Barr in the run up to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The station will be used as the main gateway for people coming in and out of a number of the Games’ venues, including the Alexander Stadium.

A previous planning application was submitted in September 2020 but Galiford Try and SLC Property have since taken onboard comments from the community and key stakeholders and appointed Jewellery Quarter-based Glancy Nicholls Architects to amend the external designs for the station.

Patrick Nicholls, director at Glancy Nicholls Architects, said: “Our ambition has been to design a strong, identifiable building for Perry Barr; a building that local people can be proud of and something which provides the perfect welcome to the area.”

Under the proposals, the new station will feature multiple entrances, a ticket office, an accessible toilet and baby change facility, an out-of-hours entrance, lifts and new stairs.

Improvements will also be made to the surrounding public realm.

The current building dates back to the 1960s and was built when the railway line was electrified.

It was designed to accommodate 250,000 trips per year however 690,000 trips now pass through Perry Barr Station annually.

One of the oldest railway stations in the UK, Perry Barr Station has been located on the same site since 1837.