Selly Oak railway station


Selly Oak railway station is a railway station in Selly Oak in Birmingham, England, on the Cross-City Line between Redditch, Birmingham and Lichfield.

History

It opened on 3 April 1876 on the Midland Railway's Birmingham West Suburban Railway branch to serve the burgeoning suburbs of Selly Oak and Bournbrook.
On 20 August 1883, a goods train from Granville Street to Lifford was passing over the bridge over the canal at Selly Oak station when at a speed of it derailed and damaged much of the wooden railing of the bridge. The engine remained on the bridge, but two of the wagons broke through the wooden fencing and tumbled down the embankment.
The station area has changed considerably since the Midland Railway days and lost virtually all its original features as the station was completely rebuilt by British Rail in 1978 to designs of the architect John Broome along with the others on this line when the Cross-City route was commissioned. Prior to the rebuild, the station had only received a limited service for much of the 1960s and 1970s.
On 11 April 1993, a railway employee at the station was threatened with sticks and two masked men stole takings of hundreds of pounds. The station received a £85,000 facelift in 1994 with the number of car park spaces expanded from 50 to 86, new lighting, fencing and closed circuit TV

Station masters

The station is only served by Cross City Line trains, which are currently Class 323 electrical multiple units. Pedestrian and vehicular access is via Heeley Road, off the A38 Bristol Road. The station and line are on an embankment.
The site has recently been expanded with the addition of a new car park with 93 free spaces, making Selly Oak station a new Park and Ride site. Access between platforms is via a covered overhead bridge, with lifts available. The overhead bridge has views of Bournbrook, The University of Birmingham and the city centre itself.
Selly Oak Station is equipped with real-time information departure boards which were previously installed in 2006 by Central Trains. There are automated ticket machines and windowed ticket booths.
Trains call every 10 minutes each way during the day on Mondays to Saturdays and every half hour on Sundays.