Midlands Rail Hub planners are studying how spaces beneath and around the proposed Bordesley Viaduct extension could work better for Digbeth. Network Rail’s 12 November announcement says the study responds to public concerns about local businesses, community spaces and the area’s character.
United KingdomOptions being explored include walking and cycling connections, landscaping, signage and continued business or community use beneath railway arches. The alliance is also considering ways to reduce construction land requirements and make the viaduct’s appearance sympathetic to its surroundings.
A full report on the first consultation is expected at the start of December, ahead of a second consultation in 2027. The alliance has also published further explanations of why alternative railway-capacity options were not progressed.
Why it matters
This brings an architectural and urban-design question into a railway capacity project: how can the structure contribute useful space at street level? Civil Insight’s assessment is that access, visibility, drainage and the practical servicing of occupied arches deserve consideration alongside the viaduct’s engineering. Those interfaces can shape both construction logistics and the long-term experience of the neighbourhood.
These are developing proposals. The announcement does not confirm a final public-realm design or construction approval for the enhancements.
Source: Network Rail, 12 November 2026.
Featured photograph: Birmingham Moor Street station in May 2019, providing archive context for the wider rail hub. Photograph: G-13114 / CC BY-SA 4.0.
