Kings Norton railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Kings Norton

---

caption = Kings Norton railway station in 2007
manager = London Midland
locale = Kings Norton
borough = Birmingham
pte = West Midlands
zone = 3
usage0405 = 0.366
usage0506 = 0.407
usage0607 = 0.447
code = KNN
platforms = 2
latitude = 52.413
longitude = -1.934
years = 1849
events = Opened
years2 = 1978
events2 = Rebuilt
years3 = 2006
events3 = Original building demolished

Kings Norton railway station serving the Kings Norton area of Birmingham, England. It lies on Cross-City Line from Redditch through Birmingham New Street to Lichfield.

It has two platforms, with a disused island platform in the centre of the four-track lines. The station was originally converted to four platforms in the 1930s to provide an 'overflow' station for Birmingham New Street, although now only the outer platforms are used.

The station lies between Kings Norton and Cotteridge, on Station Road off Pershore Road South, the A441, which runs between Birmingham and Redditch. An extension car park provides a Park and Ride facility.

The current Kings Norton station was in fact the second station to be built in Kings Norton. Lifford railway station was first built on what is now the Cross-City Line, although later Lifford stations were built on what is now the Camp Hill Goods Line, which runs to the east of the Birmingham City Centre. Kings Norton was opened in 1849 and refurbished as part of the Cross-City line in 1978. It retained some of its original features following refurbishment, unlike the other 'cross city line' stations, namely its original station building. The building was demolished in February 2006 for safety reasons. It had remained derelict for many years, despite proposals for its re-use, such as conversion into a cafe.

Kings Norton is only served by London Midland services, using Class 323 electric multiple units. London Midland operate the Cross-City line on behalf of Centro.

Kings Norton Station is equipped with real-time information departure boards which were installed in 2006 by Central Trains.

Kings Norton Station could potentially see a refurbishment of the island platform for passenger use should the proposal to reopen the Camp Hill Line come to anything. This could see the introduction of 3 (possibly 4) additional per hour trains at Kings Norton between the station and Birmingham Moor Street. However, only the two (of the current four) railway lines at Kings Norton are electrified, which would need remodelling should the Camp Hill Line reopen for passenger traffic.

External links

* [http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/Stations/kings_norton.php Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Kings Norton railway station]
* [http://warwickshirerailways.com/lms/kingsnorton.htm Warwickshire Railways page]