Birmingham International Airport chief steps up high speed rail campaign
BIA chief executive Paul Kehoe has stepped up his campaign to bring a high-speed rail service to the airport by condemning Birmingham International station as “tired” and little improved since the 1970s.
Arguing strongly for a new public transport hub at BIA and the NEC, where 200mph services to and from London would stop, Mr Kehoe said failure to plan for a new station now would cost future jobs and investment and contribute to economic decline in the West Midlands.
Network Rail, which last month published its version of what a £40 billion high-speed service might look like, envisages trains running from London to Birmingham city centre and on to the North West, but bypassing the airport/NEC.
The omission triggered a concerted effort by airport bosses to galvanise Birmingham and West Midlands opinion.
Last week, Mr Kehoe said Network Rail’s proposals lacked joined-up thinking and were devised primarily to benefit Scotland and the north of England.
Now, writing in this month’s Railnews magazine, Mr Kehoe says the region has failed to capitalise on improvements 30 years ago when construction of Birmingham International and a new fast inter-city service made it possible to travel to London in 89 minutes.
The fast journey times helped create a new confidence in Birmingham and underpinned major regeneration including the International Convention Centre, Symphony Hall, Brindleyplace and the Bullring shopping centre, he added.
Describing a high-speed rail link between BIA and London as the “single most important thing to influence the West Midlands economy” since the arrival of rail in Birmingham in 1837, Mr Kehoe said: “We have to evolve and welcome the world – and make it easier for the world to reach us – and we have made some big leaps forward. But it has to be recognised that what was good in the 1960s and tolerable in the1970s is not good enough in the 21st century.
“Birmingham International is now a tired parkway for travel towards London, rather than the exciting gateway to the Midlands that it once was.
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