THE new lifts at Barnt Green Railway Station have ‘transformed’ access for rail users and made a real difference to the local community, rail bosses have claimed.
The £7.5million investment has provided step-free routes to all platforms for the first time, making it significantly easier for passengers to move around the well-used station.
The lifts were installed with the aim of helping a wider range of people travel with confidence, including those with reduced mobility, passengers with pushchairs, and those carrying heavy luggage.
Denise Wetton, Network Rail’s Central route director, said: “New lifts at Barnt Green have made a real difference for the local community, with step-free access now available to all platforms for the first time. It’s already making journeys easier and more reliable for a much wider range of passengers, whether that’s people with reduced mobility, those travelling with luggage or families with pushchairs.
“We’re really pleased to see the benefits now being felt, with a more inclusive station and a noticeably better experience for passengers.”
Bromsgrove MP Bradley Thomas recently visited the station and hailed the completed project as delivering a more inclusive station environment and an improved passenger experience.
He said: “When I was first elected, this was one of the very first issues I picked up as the newly elected MP for Bromsgrove.
“As I saw for myself recently, the new lifts have transformed access at Barnt Green station. I’m pleased this long-awaited investment has improved access for rail users at this incredibly well-used station.”
Work began on installing the lifts in February 2025.
The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act made it a legal obligation to make all forms of public transport accessible to all.
Barnt Green Parish Council has been campaigning for lifts since 2015.
The installation of the lifts comes more than seven years after wheelchair user Dylan Cummings told the Standard he felt ‘embarrassed’ after having to sit down to shuffle up and down stairs to cross the footbridge at the station to get to his intended platform, missing two trains in the ordeal.
A Network Rail spokesperson said at the time that for lifts to be installed, a wider package of improvements would be needed, and funding would need to be secured for the additional work.
