Massive Railway Bridge Installed Over Live Train Line In Birmingham

Passengers have been thanked for their patience after a three-day closure of the Cross City line between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley allowed engineers to complete a major construction milestone.

West Midlands Railway services resumed on Monday 1 June after the line was closed from Friday 29 May to Sunday 31 May.

The closure allowed engineers to install a 150-metre-long viaduct deck near the future Curzon Street station site.

Drone footage shows the scale of the new structure, with trains continuing to run on the Cross City line beneath the construction area.

The Curzon 2 viaduct will carry future HS2 services into the city centre, crossing over the existing railway between Duddeston and Birmingham New Street.

The installation used a “fully restrained” engineering method developed by HS2 with support from Network Rail.

This method allows sections of the structure to be positioned even while train services have restarted, helping reduce disruption for passengers.

The project is part of a wider plan to build the high-speed railway while keeping existing rail services operating as normally as possible.

The viaduct weighs around 4,200 tonnes and was installed over the active railway during the three-day operation.

Officials thanked passengers for their patience and said the approach will help limit future disruption while construction continues.

West Midlands Railway confirmed that the Cross City line has reopened and normal timetables are now running.

The installation is a key step in delivering HS2 in the West Midlands, aimed at increasing capacity and improving future reliability for passenger and freight services.