Birmingham Snow Hill Station - History

History

The site of the station was originally occupied by Oppenheims Glassworks. This was demolished, but many parts of the building and machinery are believed to be buried underneath the station and car park, and during recent development work alongside the station the area was designated as a site of archaeological importance by Birmingham City Council. The station was opened in 1852 on the Great Western Railway (GWR) line from London (Paddington) to Wolverhampton Low Level. It was originally called Livery Street Station and was a simple large wooden shed. It was renamed Snow Hill in 1858, and the Great Western Hotel was added in 1863. By 1859 it was possible to travel from Snow Hill to London in just under three hours.

Snow Hill had a new station which had a huge arched roof of iron and glass, with a simple wooden overhead bridge linking the two platforms. It was never intended to be the main station, but political gaming between the railway companies prevented the railway reaching its original intended terminus at Birmingham Curzon Street.

Trains from the south arrived through Snow Hill Tunnel, built by the cut-and-cover method, and in a cutting from Temple Row to Snow Hill. The cutting was roofed over in 1872 and the Great Western Arcade built on top.

In 1906 reconstruction of Snow Hill began, completed in 1912. The new station building was intended to compete with New Street, which at the time was a much grander building than it is today. The rebuilt station had a large booking hall with an arched glass roof. It contained lavish waiting rooms with oak bars. The bottom end of the station had fish platforms and goods storage. The station was twice as long as the current one, with eight through platforms and four bay platforms. Although the line through the tunnel has always been double-track, the line towards The Hawthorns was a four-track main line. Because of capacity problems towards London, Moor Street station was built at the opposite end of the tunnel to take local trains towards Leamington Spa and Stratford upon Avon.

At its height, many trains that now run into New Street station ran into Snow Hill, along with some that no longer run. Services included:

• Shrewsbury, Chester and Mid Wales – these trains now run into New Street (although it is now possible to join a train to Smethwick Galton Bridge and change onto an Arriva Trains Wales service to these destinations).
• Birkenhead – this was on the old GWR route from London Paddington. British Rail ended this service prior to Snow Hill closing in 1968.
• Cardiff Central via Hereford.
• Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth & Penzance via Stratford upon Avon – was the GWR trunk route. British Rail closed the line between Stratford and Cheltenham Spa on the advice of Dr Beeching. All services now run through New Street and via Bromsgrove.
• Wolverhampton Low Level & Dudley – these services were cut entirely in 1972. The Midland Metro tram line now runs along the former route to Wolverhampton.
• London Paddington – service transferred to New Street in 1967, and later abandoned altogether. The London service was restored in the early 1990s, but now to London Marylebone - making this Snow Hill's only long-distance service.