Birmingham Moor Street station is ready for the Commonwealth Games after undergoing a thorough deep clean and replanting in collaboration with Network Rail.
The station was shut for a week last month due to essential Network Rail engineering works in the Tyseley area which will get the region’s rail network ready for the Commonwealth Games.
With industrial action also taking place over that week, it was the ideal time to ensure the station was thoroughly cleaned ahead of what is expected to be a busy time on the rail network in Birmingham.
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The Chiltern team were joined by community group The Friends of the Shakespeare Line (FOSL), a unique Community Station Partnership formed at the outset of Covid by friends and neighbours of the railway stations between Birmingham and Stratford upon Avon.
FOSL were instrumental in building eleven custom-made ‘platform-scale’ garden planters and installing them at the station, while refreshing existing planters and reviving the station gardens between the platforms. The team also added ‘Daycation’ posters across the station, promoting local attractions and destinations.
Facilities management company, Mitie, also made a massive contribution to the transformation at Moor Street and worked tirelessly all week – taking part in a thorough deep clean and refreshing painted platform markings and vintage benches.
The Chiltern Railways team on site worked closely with everybody involved in the makeover and wishes to place on record their thanks and appreciation for the new-look Moor Street station ahead of a time when an additional one million passengers will be travelling on the West Midlands rail network.
Eleni Jordan, Commercial & Customer Strategy Director for Chiltern Railways, said:
“We are delighted to have worked with the Friends of the Shakespeare Line on this energetic transformation of Birmingham Moor Street station. The results are a credit to the group’s superb can-do attitude and their professional approach to working in a railway environment.
The tireless efforts of everybody involved in the project shows just how much people care about their railways, and we greatly appreciate the time, energy and professionalism that was brought to Moor Street last week for the benefit of our customers.”
Patrick Power, Head of Customer Strategy and Performance (Central Route) for Network Rail, said: “We are very grateful to the Friends of the Shakespeare Line who volunteer tirelessly to bring local character and uplifting landscaping to stations in Central and South-East Birmingham. Their work brings immeasurable benefit to the railways and makes the stations a much more attractive place for passengers, greatly improving the customer experience, one of the main aims of the new Great British Railways.”
Fraser Pithie, the Chair of Friends of the Shakespeare Line, said: “We had a great day as a team of volunteers, and we have shown what can be achieved by a group of people who bring their volunteer energies to the railways. We have certainly given Moor Street station a visual boost. We are also pleased with the new ‘Daycation’ posters, promoting local attractions and destinations. When passengers return, we hope they will enjoy the colours, the sentiment and the glory of a natural green environment installed at one of Birmingham’s key mainline stations.”
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