THE head of the UK Government company planning a 250 mph high speed rail line from London to the North has suggested it should serve a parkway station near Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre - within 24 hours of Railnews publishing an article calling for the new line to pass through a new 'Birmingham International Hub.'

Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive of Birmingham International Airport, writing the Guest Opinion column in the print edition of Railnews published on 3 September, said: "Located at or very close to Birmingham International Airport, the NEC and the existing station and transport interchange, the 'Hub' would not only provide additional connectivity to those locations; it would also 'plug in' to the M42 corridor - acknowledged by the Regional Development Agency as a major economic driver of the region."

Mr Kehoe added: "It would also provide a route to additional aviation capacity in the event that the third runway at Heathrow did not go ahead - Birmingham Airport runs at less than 50 per cent capacity and thus is a valuable resource to be exploited."

Speaking to The Birmingham Post - which printed an edited version of Mr Kehoe's Guest Opinion column in Railnews - Sir David Rowlands, Chairman of the High Speed Two company, disclosed that his board had visited Birmingham earlier this week.

"It is pretty unlikely Birmingham New Street could handle traffic from a high speed service - the station is full already," he said.

"So the question would be: 'if it isn't New Street where else might it be?' Under new EU regulations, any station which is served by a high speed train must be at least 400 metres in length."

Sir David commented: "The greatest likelihood is that [Birmingham] city centre would be served by a spur line which will in turn be served by the high speed route.

"If there is going to be something at Birmingham International that will be on the high speed line itself.

"It seems less likely, to be very honest, that any high speed line would run through the centre of Birmingham - rather it would be served by a spur off the high speed line.


"That is primarily to do with the engineering challenge. I think people in Birmingham would understand how difficult it would be to run a line right the way through the city and out the other side."

Sir David added: "At the end of the year we will be very clear in our recommendations to the government where a new city centre location should be if they decided to go down that route.

"This will be down to the precise details of its location. However, I will not reveal in public yet whether that is Moor Street, Snow Hill or a new-build."

In his article in Railnews, Paul Kehoe concluded by saying: "A London-Birmingham High-Speed Rail link via the Birmingham International Hub could be the single most important thing to influence the West Midlands' economy since the London to Birmingham Railway arrived in Curzon Street, back in 1837. That's why we have to do it right."

Next Wednesday, 9 September, Emirates Airline is to operate one of its new A380 super-jumbo aircraft from Dubai to Birmingham to mark the airport's 7oth anniversary celebrations.  The A380 will replace the usual Boeing 777 on the morning flight from Dubai and the afternoon return flight from Birmingham to the Emirate.  This will be the first time that an A380 has operated a scheduled service at any UK regional airport.

On the same day, 9 September, the first stage of the new Dubai Metro is due to be officially opened.  It will be operated by British company Serco, which operates the Docklands Light Railway and is a partner with NedRail in the operation of Northern Rail and Merseyrail services.

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