While the 'will it - won't it' saga of HS2 has been grabbing all the headlines, there are rail network schemes across the UK that are being built and set to boost regional economies.
But for every new station that gets built or upgraded, there are hundreds of others that remain on the wish-list.
With this year's Levelling-Up white paper on setting out greater devolution powers to regions, it is hoped that there will be more autonomy in spending and investment on infrastructure, including rail networks.
But it can't all come from the Government, argues Levelling Up author Andy Haldane.
In this vein, a proposed rail scheme in Cardiff is something of a trailblazer. Plans have been approved for Cardiff Parkway railway station which is being privately built by Cardiff Parkway Developments Ltd, with backing from the Welsh Government.
Here is the BusinessLive list of brand new rail stations currently being built or on the wish-list.
North West
Liverpool Baltic
This is the new name for the Merseyrail station planned for an up and coming former industrial area of Liverpool.
It replaces the former St James railway station that closed in 1917 as a cost-cutting measure during the First World War and never re-opened.
Now, the first CGI images and a video fly-through showing what a new railway station on the site might look like have been revealed.
The former St James site has been set aside for the development and to avoid any confusion with the existing James Street station in Liverpool city centre, it will have a new name to reflect The Baltic Triangle area that it will serve. The area has gone from a forgotten industrial part of the city into a vibrant, creative and thriving place to live, work and socialise.
The scheme is currently in the design development stage. Land has already been purchased to safeguard the site of the new station ticket office building.
The current plans aim for the station to be open in 2025, subject to funding being secured for the construction stage.
Located between Liverpool Central and Brunswick Station on the Northern Line, plans include a cycle hub, step-free access and a passenger drop-off area.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said the aim is to unlock new opportunities for residents and businesses, boost footfall and improve connectivity to the rest of the city region.
Headbolt Lane, Kirkby
Work is now underway on a £80m project to build a new railway station at Headbolt Lane, Kirkby.
Groundworks are underway ready for the construction of the new station building, platforms and car park later in the year.
Additional works will also be taking place to install new bridges and widen the embankment of the line between Kirkby and the new station over the coming months.
Plans include :
- Step-free access throughout the station
- A bus interchange
- Cycle storage
- Links to active travel networks
- Passenger waiting facilities and toilets
- Approximately 300 park and ride spaces
The plans for the new station were approved at the end of 2021.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: "As a Kirkby native, I’ve heard talk about a new station coming to Headbolt Lane for as long as I can remember.
"Thanks to devolution, with more decisions being taken locally, we are finally going to make it a reality.
The scheme is being delivered by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority in partnership with Knowsley Council, Network Rail, Merseyrail and Northern. Funding has come from the Transforming Cities Fund.
Cheadle
Plans for the town to have its own railway station for the first time since the mid-1960s came a step closer in March when Stockport Council's cabinet signed off the £9m scheme.
The project is the largest of three schemes bankrolled by the government’s Town’s Fund.
The proposed new stop would be on the Chester to Manchester (Mid Cheshire) line next to the Alexandra Hospital, just 100m north of Cheadle High Street.
A related £1m package of walking and cycling improvements would provide access to the station and High Street and other routes, while a £4m eco-business park makes up the rest of the £14m Towns Fund schemes.
Efforts to deliver the station have been driven by a dedicated board including Mary Robinson, Conservative MP for Cheadle and town hall economy chief Councillor David Meller.
Artist's impression of proposed new Cheadle train station. (Image: Pell Frischmann.)
North East
Ashington, Bedlington, Blyth Bebside, Newsham, Seaton Delaval and Northumberland Park
A £34million project is underway to reopen the Northumberland Line between Newcastle and Ashington, which closed to passengers in 1964 as part of the Beeching cuts.
The investment in the Northumberland Line, announced last January, is funding preparatory work including land acquisition and detailed designs.
Plans include new stations at Ashington, Bedlington, Blyth Bebside, Newsham, Seaton Delaval and Northumberland Park, as well as track upgrades and modifications around level crossings.
Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said: “The Northumberland Line will bring a huge boost to the area in terms of economic growth, housing, employment and education opportunities, as well as providing a fast and efficient new transport link between the south-east of the county and Tyneside.”
Yorkshire and the Humber
South Leeds
A new £26.5 million station is being built on the trans-Pennine route, linking the city with Manchester, via Huddersfield.
White Rose Railway Station will feature two platforms, providing improved access to the adjacent office park, shopping centre and bus interchange.
Situated between Morley and Cottingley, Spencer Group is delivering the project for developer Munroe K in conjunction with Network Rail, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Leeds City Council and the Department for Transport.
The scheme has received funding from the Leeds City Region Transforming Cities Fund, the Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme and £5 million from the Department for Transport’s New Stations Fund, alongside contributions from Munroe K - owner and operator of White Rose Park.
It is scheduled to open in Spring 2023.
Port of Immingham
The only freight service on the list - the Humber Express launched in October 2021- the first ever intermodal service to leave the complex.
It links the Port of Immingham to a major inland logistics hub, freeing up more than 80 HGV drivers a day to ease pressure on the industry.
Arriving in Immingham from destinations around the globe, containers are loaded up at an existing terminal, with a huge programme of work on the South Bank rail line making it possible.
Read more:Why the Humber Express will feel like its Polar namesake as Christmas comes calling
Two daily services carrying an initial 22 containers a time has begun, with potential to scale up significantly.
It is being run by DFDS and IPort Rail. IPort is described as the UK’s most advanced multimodal logistics hub, forming an 800-acre terminal and warehousing site sitting beside the M18 in South Yorkshire, with further rail connections and enhanced access to the motorway network.
The inaugural Humber Express - a new service linking Port of Immingham with IPort Rail at Doncaster - leaves the DFDS terminal laden with containers. (Image: Dustin Smith / Skywall Photography)
Those behind the project said wagon availability could see 34 to 36 containers a journey, with the facility open to all users of the port - the largest by tonnage in the UK and fourth when measured by such units crossing the quayside. In 2020 it handled more than 10 per cent of all containers, behind Dover, Felixstowe and London.
There is also a strong emphasis on encouraging shipping lines to ease South East congestion and use northern ports, closer to many end destinations.
West Midlands
Aldridge
Plans to build a new railway station in the Black Country moved closer last year after council chiefs agreed a £400,000 investment for a land deal.
West Midlands Combined Authority will use the capital to acquire a patch of land next to the Anchor Meadow Health Centre off Westfield Drive, in Aldridge, which is currently owned by the NHS.
It will mean proposals can be drawn up to design and build the new station to serve the town again after its previous facility was closed as a result of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s.
Detailed designs are still being worked up but initial plans include a 150-space car park.
Transport chiefs hope to have two trains an hour running to Walsall and Birmingham New Street, serving an estimated 500,000 people a year.
The land being purchased was once used as the approach entrance to the old station and would be needed for similar purposes for the new facility.
The original Aldridge station was opened by the Midland Railway in 1879 and in 1923 became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway before passing to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.
The project in Aldridge is part of wider moves to improve rail connections across the West Midlands which will see new stations built in Darlaston and Willenhall, in the Black Country, and also Hazelwell, Moseley and Kings Heath, in Birmingham.
All five are expected to be open to passengers by 2023 with proposals for a new station in Tettenhall also being explored.
Darlaston and Willenhall
Work is underway on a £55million project to build two new railway stations on the Walsall to Wolverhampton, restoring passenger services to this part of the Black Country.
The stations at Darlaston and Willenhall will offer 'vastly improved' connections to Wolverhampton, Walsall and Birmingham New Street stations when they open in 2023.
Willenhall Station will be sited next to the Bilston Street railway bridge close to the town centre, while Darlaston Station, which will include a 300-space car park, will be built on derelict land next to the Kendricks Road bridge.
Planning permission was approved in 2020.
The project is being led by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), and the West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) with the Department for Transport, Network Rail, West Midlands Railway, Walsall Council and the City of Wolverhampton Council.
Passenger trains last called at stations in Willenhall and Darlaston more than 50 years ago and the line between Walsall and Wolverhampton has been used only by freight services since 2008.
Network Rail has agreed the operation of an hourly service between Walsall and Wolverhampton and an hourly service between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton to call at the stations.
HS2 Curzon Street (in Birmingham city centre)
Site clearance is now complete and a massive archaeological programme, involving 70 archaeologists, has unearthed the world’s oldest railway roundhouse at the site of the new HS2 station in Birmingham.
UK contractor Mace and Spanish firm Dragados were awarded the contract to build the station in May last year.
Worth up to £570 million, the deal will see UK contractor Mace and Spanish firm Dragados work with HS2 in two stages to finalise the detailed design and then build the new station next to the original 1830s Curzon Street terminal in the city centre.
The new station will be net zero carbon in operation and adopt the latest green design and sustainable technologies, including capturing rainwater and utilising sustainable power generation. There will be more than 30,140 sq ft of solar panels located on platform canopies.
Mace and Dragados previously worked together on terminal two at Mumbai International Airport and delivered the Spanish high-speed rail network, including the new Madrid Atocha and Barcelona Sants stations.
They are also working together in a separate joint venture delivering HS2's London terminus at Euston. Phase one of HS2 will run between Birmingham and London and is due for completion by 2031.
Four new stations will be built to serve the high-speed railway route in Birmingham's Curzon Street, near Birmingham Airport in Solihull and at Old Oak Common and Euston in the capital.
HS2 Interchange (in Solihull)
The shortlist of construction companies vying to build the new HS2 Interchange station in Solihull was revealed in September.
Laing O'Rourke, Skanska and Unity, which is a joint venture between Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrick supported by subcontractor WSP, are all hoping to win the contract which is worth up to £370 million.
The successful bidder, which will be announced next year, will develop the detailed design of the station before construction begins at the development site 1.2 miles east of Birmingham Airport next to the M42.
The contract is set to support 1,000 jobs while wider regeneration opportunities connected to the scheme will support 30,000 jobs, up to 3,000 new homes and 753,000 sq ft of commercial space.
Interchange received the green light from Solihull planning chiefs just over a year ago and it is one of four new stations to be built on phase one of the high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham.
There will be up to five trains per hour passing through the station in both directions, with an estimated total of 175,000 seats per day.
A new automated people mover will also be constructed, connecting the site with the nearby Resorts World, NEC campus, Birmingham International station and airport.
Hazelwell, Kings Heath and Moseley
Three new railway stations are set to be built for the resumption of passenger services on the Camp Hill line in south Birmingham.
The £61 million project will resurrect services that closed to passengers during the Second World War, although it is still used by freight and some through services.
Clearance work has already been carried out at Moseley, and construction work on the other stations is expected to start next year.
A call for contractors was issued in December with the tenders expected to be announced soon.
Planning consent was granted for Moseley station in 2020. The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is providing £36 million towards the cost, the Department for Transport is contributing £20 million, and Birmingham City Council is providing the remaining £5 million from its clean air zone fund.
Birmingham Moor Street
Plans for a major transformation of Moor Street station were unveiled in 2019 adding two new platforms built to cope with the expected increase of five million passengers per year by 2043.
Transport chiefs revealed early design ideas for the city centre station ahead of further feasibility studies before a business case is developed.
The aim is to create seamless access between the new HS2 terminal in Curzon Street, Moor Street and New Street as part of the so-called 'One Station' strategy.
The new platforms will, alongside other network infrastructure improvements, allow extra services to stop at Moor Street from across the region under the 'Midlands Rail Hub' proposals to increase rail capacity to and from the East Midlands, Hereford, Worcester and the South West.
The newly planned service serving Moseley and Kings Heath could also eventually go into Moor Street.
These initial designs have been developed by West Midlands Rail Executive in collaboration with Transport for West Midlands, Midlands Connect, Network Rail, HS2, Chiltern Railways, West Midlands Railway and Birmingham City Council.
They were created by Birmingham practice Glenn Howells Architects and Grimshaw, the London-based firm behind the Eden Project.
The two companies have previously collaborated on the designs for the new HS2 station in Birmingham which were first unveiled in October 2018.
Passenger numbers at Moor Street are expected to grow from seven million to 12 million a year by 2043, with further increases expected as a result of the Midlands Rail Hub and the arrival of HS2 in 2026.
Birmingham Snow Hill
Birmingham's Snow Hill station could be getting a fourth platform as part of a wider regeneration which could create 7,700 new jobs.
A total of £50 million was earmarked for potential spending on the city centre station with a raft of other finance to be used across the region for transport and residential uses in September last year by the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Snow Hill provides mainly local services, serving Worcester, Kidderminster, Stourbridge, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Solihull but also runs to London Marylebone.
Alongside the proposals for a fourth platform, the combined authority is also planning improved connections between Snow Hill and New Street and Moor Street stations and the new HS2 terminal in Curzon Street.
University of Birmingham
The £56million regeneration of Birmingham University station is nearing completion.
The new-look station will welcome visitors to events for the Commnwealth Games being held in the city this summer.
Long term, the redevelopment will help it cope with an expected surge in passenger numbers over the next two decades.
The plans feature a new bridge over the neighbouring canal, giving passengers an alternative access route to the University of Birmingham campus in Edgbaston.
Transport for West Midlands is leading a consortium to deliver the project whose members include the University of Birmingham, Birmingham City Council, Network Rail, West Midlands Trains and the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP.
Planning permission for the scheme was granted in June 2020.
University Station opened in 1978 and was designed to serve 400,000 passengers per year but that figure is now above four million with demand expected to hit seven million by 2043.
East Midlands
HS2 East Midlands Parkway
The eastern leg of HS2 will now only go as far as East Midlands Parkway station under drastically changed plans unveiled by the Government in November.
The major redesign will also see the full electrification of the existing Midland Main Line north of Market Harborough (where the current upgrade will end) to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Spiralling costs and the changing demands of commuters prompted the Government to drop plans for the eastern part of HS2 from Birmingham to a vast new station at Toton in Notts, then on to Leeds.
Instead it will run to the existing East Midlands Parkway Station where, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said, trains will then continue on the electrified Midland Main Line track into Nottingham and Derby.
Midland Main Line electrification plans were downgraded a few years ago by previous Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.
The Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway track will be one of three high-speed routes replacing that part of HS2, along with Crewe to Manchester and Warrington to Manchester.
The parkway station has been poorly used since it opened a few years ago on the Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire border, aimed at travellers to and from East Midlands Airport, which is a couple of miles away.
The Government said it still plans to invest in local transport at Toton and in the East Midlands - but not on the scale that would have come with HS2.
It also states it will invest in the Robin Hood Line Extension and reopening the Maid Marian line.
Leicestershire
A wish-list has been drawn up to upgrade rail services in Leicestershire, including 10 new stations and an underground terminal at East Midlands Airport
Campaign group Sustainable Transport Midlands (STM) has drawn up the plans as part of a wider scheme designed to give the East Midlands a rail network that puts it on a par with the south.
The plans, known as East Midlands Commuter Programme, are split into four stages, recommending new stations and new lines as well as bus station improvements and improving existing tram services.
According to LeicestershireLive, Leicester would see new stations created at Thurmaston, between Syston and the city, Aylestone Park, between Knighton and Wigston, and three new stops between Wigston and Market Harborough, at Welford Road, Kibworth and Great Bowden.
There is also a suggestion for an underground rail terminal at Castle Donington’s East Midlands Airport, which STM hopes can create shorter travel routes between the region and Nottingham.
Currently the airport is service by the under-used East Midlands Parkway station, although there are Government plans to make that the end hub of a shorterned HS2 eastern leg.
The group also hopes to reopen passenger operations on part of the Leicester-to-Burton freight railway line.
Known as the Ivanhoe Line, the STM would aim to reopen stations at Coalville, Ashby, Sinope, the Stephenson Industrial Estate and Moira, as well as neighbouring stops in Derbyshire.
It would be the first passenger travel in the area since the Ivanhoe Line was closed in 1964 as part of the Beeching Cuts.
This stage of the scheme would capitalise on the groundwork done by the Campaign to Reopen the Ivanhoe Line (CRIL).
Its long-running campaign to get the line back up and running received backing from multiple politicians and was heard by the Department for Transport (DfT).
However, the scheme missed out on vital funds from the government last year.
Further details, including the cost of the group’s proposals have yet to be announced with the plans set to be submitted to the DfT at a later date.
Wales
Cardiff
Plans have been approved for a new railway station in east Cardiff with a business park including 15-storey office towers.
Cardiff Parkway railway station will be built on farmland in St Mellons, between Cypress Drive and Heol Las and is due to open in 2024.
A neighbouring business park also now has planning permission with 90,000sqm of commercial floorspace, which could include buildings up to 15 storeys tall.
Cardiff Council granted planning permission for the development at a meeting on Wednesday, April 4.
The development is being privately built by Cardiff Parkway Developments Ltd, with backing from the Welsh Government. Most new train stations tend to be built by the public sector.
Developers have previously said the new railway station would mean journeys to Cardiff Central in seven minutes, and the business park would have the potential to provide 6,000 jobs.
Nigel Roberts, chairman of Cardiff Parkway Developments, said: “We’re delighted to have gained a positive outcome at the planning committee today for this transformational project. Our proposals are for a sustainable, well-connected business district with public transport at its heart.
“This project will bring investment to an area of Cardiff that needs it, create new employment opportunities, and better connect people in this region of south-east Wales. We’re aiming to deliver convenient and quick services, with a high quality customer experience to encourage sustainable transport to become the obvious choice.”
East Cardiff is currently poorly served for railway services with no train stations, while the west side of the city has several. Marshfield, a village east of St Mellons, had a station until it closed in 1959.
Developers estimate the station will accommodate 800,000 passengers a year, with eight trains an hour to Cardiff and Newport. Four intercity-length platforms will serve local routes and direct mainline journeys to London, north Wales, Manchester, Bristol and more. Cardiff Parkway forms a key part of the South Wales Metro plans, and the planned Cardiff Crossrail.
Deeside Parkway, Carno, St Clears, Ely Mill
In June 2020, the Welsh Government identified four new train stations it is looking to deliver with backing from the Westminster government.
Economy and Transport Minister Ken Skates asked for financial backing towards the cost of the stations , totalling £46m before VAT.
Of the four, only Deeside Parkway, on the Borderlands Line in North Wales, with a projected cost of £22.56m, got recognition in the funding round with cash to further develop its proposals.
Transport and North Wales minister announced £670,000 towards the development of the station in March 2021.
South West
Torquay
Torquay is getting a third railway station after Network Rail awarded £7.8million towards a project in the town.
'Torquay Gateway' train station will be built for the Edginswell area of the town after funding was awarded from Network Rail and Department for its development in November.
It is set to cost £13.1 million in total, with another £3 million coming from the Towns Fund.
Edginswell station will be a two-platform station on the edge of Torquay, between Newton Road and Riviera Way.
Services to and from the station will link towards Paignton, Newton Abbot, Exeter and Exmouth.
It is expected that the project will reach the planning stage by Summer 2022, construction should start in the Summer of 2023 for completion by the end of 2024.
Exeter
Work is underway on Exeter's £16million Marsh Barton Railway Station.
The station should have been up and running in December 2016, but spiralling costs and protracted discussions with the rail industry led to delays.
It is due to open at the end of 2022.
Part of the Devon Metro project, which includes a number of rail infrastructure improvements in the Exeter area, the scheme for Marsh Barton station is designed to create sustainable links to one of the cities biggest industrial areas, opening up access for employment, retail and leisure.
The proposed station will have two platforms, with the eastern and western platforms served by trains to Newton Abbot and Exeter, respectively. Each platform will be 124 metres in length, sufficient to accommodate trains formed of up to 5 cars, and will be 4m wide.
Development of the two platforms is ongoing and concrete piles and pile caps have been completed on both platforms. Concrete beams and slabs have been installed on platform one.
Work is underway on the foundations for the pedestrian and cycle bridge which is due to be installed in the coming months. This bridge will provide active travel links to the station as well as improving connections between Alphington, Marsh Barton and the Riverside Valley Park.
Work has also begun on the access roads and pavements leading into the Station.
The station at Marsh Barton, which is being developed by Graham Construction Ltd on behalf of Devon County Council, is a core element of the Devon Metro rail strategy for Exeter.
Bristol
Construction work is under way on a new £4.2m train station in Bristol.
The Portway Park and Ride station in Shirehampton with the Severn Beach railway line. It is the first station to be built in Bristol since Parson Street in 1927 and is expected to open in the summer.
Bristol City Council and Network Rail are working together on the project, which forms part of a wider plan by the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) to enhance the local rail network through the MetroWest programme.
Network Rail completed the preparation work for the new station in December, ready for the first stage of construction. This will include replacing the safety fencing along the railway line; installing a ramp down to the tracks; and excavating the area of the platform before the foundations are laid.
When it opens, the station will be served by half-hourly services between Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach.
South East
Winslow and Bletchley
A project to restore rail routes closed more than 50 years ago were awarded £760m of new funding from the Department for Transport in January 2021.
It will support the next phase of East West Rail to reinstate services between Bicester, Oxfordshire and Bletchley, Buckinghamshire for the first time since 1968.
East West Rail will boost connectivity between Oxford and Cambridge, and is expected to stimulate economic growth and serve new housing developments.
The section between Bicester and Bletchley will include the construction of new stations at Winslow and Bletchley, as well as enhancements to existing stations on the route.
By 2025, two trains per hour will run between Oxford and Milton Keynes via Bletchley.
Simon Blanchflower, chief executive at East West Railway Company, which is overseeing the project, said: “We are delighted that the Government has shown a big commitment to East West Rail and the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
“This funding will enable us to get on with the construction work that will connect communities who live on the East West Rail link.”
Scotland
Carlisle
A new prospectus launched in October 2021 backed proposals to extend the Borders Railway to Carlisle - labelling it the “missing link”.
The current route runs from Edinburgh to Tweedbank and was opened in 2015.
Now, The Borderlands Partnership - made up of councils across the Scotland-England border- want to see the railway extended down to Carlisle.
The Campaign for Borders Rail made its case to the Union Connectivity Review in January this year, arguing that extending the line would boost the economy, social inclusion and environmental sustainability.
A Scottish Government-commissioned review was launched in 2017, looking at the merits of extending the Borders Railway to Carlisle as part of wider study of transport links in the South of Scotland.
Recommendations in the newly-published Border Railways prospectus to extend the line will form the basis of future talks between the UK and Scottish governments.
However, the prospectus failed to mention where any stations on the extended route would be positioned.
It noted that the Borders currently has a higher car ownership than the national average in places like St Boswells, Langholm, Longtown, Melrose and Newcastleton - suggesting this was to compensate for the lack of transport alternatives.
Borderlands Partnership explained that the extension would help tackle challenges of attracting and retaining a younger working population who would help diversity and economic growth.
Glasgow
In January, The Scottish Government unveiled plans in January to create a mass transit network in Glasgow.
The Glasgow Clyde Metro could better link 1.5 million people living in the West of Scotland, stretching around 15km from the city centre.
It is one of 45 core projects across the country which have been recommended for investment over the next 20 years, as part of the government's proposed transport strategy.
The ambitious project could see tram lines opened in Glasgow for the first time since the 1960s, alongside major upgrades to the existing rail network across eight local authority areas. Faster and more frequent trains linking the city centre and suburban areas would be created under a plan to introduce "heavy metro" services.
Transport Minister Michael Matheson said the multi-billion pound scheme would link people "from Clydebank to Cambuslang". It is estimated to take up to 30 years to build and cost more than £15bn.
However, the 20-year plan does not provide any funding commitments or timescales as part of its recommendations.
