Five restored railway stations are due to open in the West Midlands over the next three or four weeks, so long as safety inspectors from the Office of Rail and Road give them the green light.

West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said that stations were set to open at Darlaston and Willenhall on 19 March, followed by three at Moseley Village, Kings Heath and Pineapple Road on the Camp Hill line on 7 April, and that ‘final authorisation from the Office of Rail and Road is expected in the coming days’.

Darlaston and Willenhall were closed in January 1965, but local services on the Camp Hill line were axed as a wartime economy in 1941. Until then, Pineapple Road had been known as Hazelwell, and the new name has been chosen after a public poll.

Reversing all five closures has cost £185 million, and the project includes lifts at each station.

The Mayor said: ‘When I took office, I promised we would get these stations finished and ready for the community, and now we are delivering on that promise.

‘Closing those stations during the last century was a short-sighted mistake which has now been put right – no longer will residents have to watch every day as trains rush past without stopping.

‘These vital new services will not only restore a historic link between the railways and our communities, they will create a new lifeline for local people.’

The project has been led by Transport for West Midlands and the West Midlands Rail Executive in partnership with Network Rail, operator West Midlands Trains, Birmingham City Council, Walsall Council and the Department for Transport.

Camp Hill line trains will serve New Street for the time being, but there are plans for new chords at Bordesley as part of the West Midlands Rail Hub, which would allow Camp Hill trains to run to Moor Street and possibly on from there to Snow Hill.

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