The Station history is interesting....and I hope the rumour of some of it coming back into service and connected to New Street comes to fruition...meanwhile....for the record.....
Birmingham Snow Hill
Snow Hill was once the main station of the
Great Western Railway in Birmingham, and at its height it rivalled New Street station, with competitive services to destinations including
London Paddington,
Wolverhampton Low Level and
Birkenhead Woodside. The electrification of the main line from London to New Street in the 1960s, saw New Street favoured over Snow Hill, which saw most of its services withdrawn in the late 1960s, leading to the station's eventual closure in 1972. Snow Hill station was revived in the mid-1980s, with a new rebuilt station opening in 1987.
Today, most of the trains using Snow Hill are local services on the
Snow Hill Lines operated by
London Midland, serving
Worcester Shrub Hill,
Kidderminster,
Stourbridge Junction,
Stratford-upon-Avon, and
Solihull. The only long distance service into Snow Hill is to
London Marylebone operated by
Chiltern Railways,
via the
Chiltern Main Line. Snow Hill is also the terminus of the
Midland Metro light rail line from
Wolverhampton (
via Wednesbury and
West Bromwich), pending the line's extension.
The site of the station was formerly occupied by Oppenheims Glassworks. This was demolished, but many parts of the building and machinery are believed to be buried underneath the station and car park, and during recent development work alongside the station the area was designated as a
site of archaeological importance by
Birmingham City Council. The station was opened in 1852 on the
Great Western Railway (GWR) main line from
London Paddington to
Wolverhampton Low Level and
Birkenhead Woodside. Originally called Birmingham Station, its name was changed to Great Charles Street station, and then Livery Street Station. It was finally renamed Snow Hill in 1858, and the Great Western Hotel was added in 1863
It was never intended to be the main station, but political gaming between the railway companies prevented the railway reaching its original intended terminus at
Curzon Street. The original station was a simple temporary wooden structure, consisting of a large wooden shed covering the platforms. In 1871 it was rebuilt, and replaced with a permanent structure. The 1871 station had two through platforms, and bay platforms at the Wolverhampton end, covered by an arched roof. Access to the station was from Livery Street from the side. Trains from the south arrived through
Snow Hill Tunnel, built by the cut-and-cover method, and in a cutting from Temple Row to Snow Hill. The cutting was roofed over in 1872 and the
Great Western Arcade built on top.
To cope with expanding traffic. Snow Hill station was rebuilt again on a much larger scale between 1906 and 1912. The new station building was intended to compete with New Street, which at the time was a much grander building than it is today. The rebuilt station contained lavish facilities, such as a large booking hall with an arched glass roof, and lavish waiting rooms with oak bars. The main platform area was covered by a large glass and steel overall roof. It consisted of two large
Island platforms, containing four through platforms, and four
bay platforms for terminating trains at the northern end. The through platforms were long enough to accommodate two trains at a time, and
scissors crossings allowed trains to pull in front, or out from behind of other trains stood in a platform, effectively creating a 12 platform station. The line north from Snow Hill towards
Hockley was
quadrupled at the same time, however the cost of widening the twin track Snow Hill tunnel at the southern end was considered prohibitive. There was not enough capacity through the tunnel to accommodate all of the services, and so, as a solution,
Birmingham Moor Street was built as an "overflow" station at the opposite end of the tunnel to take terminating local trains towards Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Great Western Hotel was closed at the same time (as guests complained of being kept awake by goods trains running underneath) and converted into railway offices, and a passenger entrance was provided on
Colmore Row, which became the station's main entrance.
The report by Dr Richard Beeching in 1963 “The Reshaping of British Railways” recommended that Snow Hill Station be closed so in 1967 all long distance traffic through Snow Hill was transferred to New Street and local traffic terminated at Moor Street with the tunnel closing at that time also. Despite public outcry the Great Western Hotel was demolished in 1969 and the station itself in 1977. Booooooo!
And some pics.....
