Press release -
Birmingham’s Cross City Line electric train fleet carried more than 12 million passengers in its first year
A West Midlands Railway (WMR) train fleet has carried more than 12 million passengers since completing its rollout on a popular Birmingham route one year ago today.
Passengers on the Cross City Line, which connects Lichfield to Bromsgrove and Redditch via Birmingham, first boarded the new Class 730/0 electric train fleet in March 2024, with the full rollout officially completed on 26 September 2024.
In their first year, the new trains have proven popular with commuters and leisure travellers alike with more than a million journeys made every single month. WMR reported a 19% rise in customer satisfaction on the route since they entered service, citing their spacious carriages, intelligent air conditioning and modern features as factors behind the uplift.
The rollout of the new fleet was recognised at the prestigious National Rail Awards ceremony in London last week (Wednesday 17 September), where it won for ‘Fleet Achievement of the Year’.
Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said: “This new fleet is the flagship for our £1billion investment into new trains and infrastructure. We want to provide the best possible passenger experience, and we are so pleased that the Class 730/0s are making such a positive impact on customer satisfaction already.
“The Cross City Line is the busiest commuter route outside of London, so boosting capacity was hugely important to us. The new 3-carriage trains run in pairs, comfortably offering space for over 1,000 people on every Cross City Line service.”
As well as serving Birmingham New Street, the line includes the award-winning University Station, which saw over three million passengers in the first year first year following its multi-million-pound transformation.
As well as the Cross City Line, Class 730 trains run on routes connecting central Birmingham with destinations including Walsall, Wolverhampton, Rugeley and Birmingham International.
More information on the fleet is available on the West Midlands Railway website: Class 730 fleet | West Midlands Railway.
Topics
Categories
Regions
About London Northwestern & West Midlands Railways
For further information on this release, email press.office@wmtrains.co.uk
London Northwestern & West Midlands Railways operates both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.
- London Northwestern Railway services operate between Liverpool and Birmingham, and on the West Coast Main Line to and from London Euston.
- West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Snow Hill.
For more information on these services visit westmidlandsrailway.co.uk or londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk
If you have been sent this press release, this is because we believe this to be of interest to you.
To sign up for all future releases, visit our newsroom and subscribe to our updates. You can unsubscribe to our releases at any time.
