Central Route
Our Region
Our North West & Central region runs from London Euston and Marylebone in the south through the Chiltern and West Midlands regions, the North West of England, and Cumbria before joining with Scotland at Gretna. We are home to the West Coast Mainline, the busiest mixed-use railway in Europe, serving London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
We’re a very busy region, with 1.3 million passengers travelling on our rails every weekday, and 700,000 tonnes of freight moved a week. With 571 stations in the North West & Central region, we make up a quarter of Britain’s railway system.
We are committed to transforming the North West & Central region into a customer-focused service organisation, putting passengers first. We will prioritise safe, reliable train services against the ongoing need to build a bigger, better railway capable of transporting more people and produce in the future.
Our Route
The Central route covers a major part of the national rail network, with hundreds of thousands of passengers, and thousands of tonnes of freight carried within our route each week. Within our route is the Chiltern Main Line between London Marylebone and the West Midlands, the Snow Hill line from Stratford-upon-Avon to Worcester, the Cross City line in Birmingham, and lines to other cities including Wolverhampton, Coventry, Walsall, and Oxford.
We also have big plans under way in the Central route. The planned HS2 railway includes stops in Birmingham and Solihull, providing much-needed additional capacity on the rail network and faster journeys for passengers. East West Rail will also re-establish a rail link between Cambridge and Oxford and improve connectivity within the region.
Key Station
We own and manage Birmingham New Street, the busiest station outside of London. Over 170,000 passengers use this station each day!
Our projects
Midlands Rail Hub
Birmingham is one of the most complex and congested parts of the British rail network. Currently, the railway through central Birmingham is not equipped to meet the passenger demands of the future. We have identified that the most cost-effective option to increase rail capacity is to construct new railway to connect the Camp Hill line to the Chiltern main line, which will allow more trains to use Birmingham Moor Street station.
The new railway is critical to the wider Midlands Rail Hub programme, unlocking existing capacity constraints in central Birmingham. The project would also provide future opportunities for improved journeys further afield.
Cross City Line Flood Protection
As part of our commitment to safety on and around our railway we’re using virtual reality headsets in schools throughout the West Midlands to teach children about railway safety.
Nationally, there were 18,517 trespass incidents on the British rail network last year, 20 percent of which involved young people under the age of 18. By using virtual reality, we are able to help educate classes about the risks the railway poses in an engaging and immersive format, getting through to children in ways that normal presentations cannot.
Our Improvements
The East West Rail scheme will re-stablish a rail link between Cambridge and Oxford to improve connections between East Anglia and central, southern, and Western England. We’re delivering this large-scale project in three ‘Connection Stages’ to minimise disruption for our passengers and local communities.
The project is about more than just laying down steel and concrete: we’re integrating the whole railway to increase reliability of our services, and to allow passengers to reach their destinations more efficiently. Phase one between Oxford and Bicester is already open, with phase two between Bicester and Bedford scheduled for completion in 2024.
Roles on this route
No roles are available on this route at this time. Register your interest to be notified when we open new roles.