Bordesley Railway Station Closure
Many Blues fans will be familiar with Bordesley Station, which is located on Coventry Road near St. Andrew’s@Knighthead Park. The station is situated between Birmingham Moor Street and Small Heath stations and, although it is rarely used nowadays, it is usually open on matchdays, and it serves as a key access point for the ground.
The station’s future has been in some doubt for quite a while now, and in February the Department for Transport launched a formal consultation on Network Rail's plan to close the station no earlier than June 4, 2029. The reason for the proposed closure is to facilitate changes as part of the Midlands Rail Hub (MRH) project.
While it is identified that the MRH will bring big improvements to regional rail services, the consultation document highlights Bordesley's sole remaining purpose as serving up to 1,400 BCFC fans per match day (with recent increases noted in Autumn 2024 attendance), via additional calls on West Midlands Trains services.
As a consulted body, Blues Trust has been asked to submit its views on the proposed closure and in particular any concerns that Blues supporters might have if it was to be lost as a facility on matchdays.
It is argued that closing it in 2029 would create real inconvenience for Blues supporters until the new stadium opens near Adderley Park (expected in the 2030/31 season), potentially forcing more fans onto buses, longer walks to Small Heath or Moor Street, or increased car usage, especially for those without easy alternatives.
To enable the Trust to gauge the strength of feeling on this matter, your views as a Blues supporter are sought. If you would like to contribute to the debate, please complete a short survey using the following link. If you do not wish to click the link, just copy and paste it into your browser.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclQ2Vt5k9EpNL7DK2FnC0bbfcT2gdTIh657-cvF8T5ZnhdeQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=117222440606622753247
The survey will be open for 3 weeks and will close at midnight on Wednesday 6 May 2026.
Responses received will enable Blues Trust to make a submission highlighting the fan perspective, and pushing for alternative solutions that don’t disadvantage Blues supporters in the coming years.
A detailed case against the closure has been prepared by a public transport consultant, Lee Fletcher, and is available for information in the link below.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jI4vSfHu900iPtwQ1z4Ru-HfxGXVGsHt/view?usp=sharing
Blues Trust
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The station is already closed as far as people approaching from Moor Street before the game and heading towards Moor Street after the game.
So approximately 50% of us are already inconvenienced.
If trains actually stopped at the station its passenger numbers would improve. The fact is, that from the Birmingham SH direction, no trains on matchdays. This is probably on purpose, due to the fact that if the station did get decent passenger numbers, they would then have spend money to sort out the entrance area to the station – arguably the worst station entrance in Europe!
Hundreds of fans use this on match days, on a line with trains otherwise pretty empty. It’s the closest you can get to the ground by public transport. Closing it will mean some fans staying home and watching on tv, others taking cars and increasing congestion, parking issues.
Closing a railway station in Birmingham seems ridiculous when several are bring commissioned or re-commissioned.
in the case of Bordesley which is only really required on Blues match days the cost of keeping it open is minimal compared to the expense of opening new ones. Regarding alternative means of travel, travelling by car involves a huge time difference largely because of the state of road works and diversions in the vicinity caused by the construction of HS2, and could result in a large number of supporters being absent from St Andrew’s.