Network Rail has appointed a preferred alliance of contractors for the Midlands Rail Hub, one of the largest railway upgrades in the region.

The alliance, comprising VolkerRail, Laing O'Rourke, AtkinsRéalis, Siemens Mobility, and Network Rail, will lead the design, development, and construction phases of the project.

The Midlands Rail Hub, with a potential full delivery cost of £1.75bn, will reconfigure Birmingham's railway network, including New Street, Moor Street, and Snow Hill stations, to improve connectivity across the West Midlands and beyond. The project will link the Chiltern main line at Moor Street with the Camp Hill lines via two new chords in Bordesley, enabling additional train services and more direct connections.

Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said: "The Midlands Rail Hub will be transformational for economic growth, jobs and homes in the region, and it’s great to see this new alliance ready to deliver vital improvements that will deliver for passengers and freight."

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Work will be prioritised to explore how smaller, but vital, pieces of work which will provide passengers and communities with quicker benefits, including new journey options and more trains can be delivered as soon as possible.

They include reopening platform 4 at Snow Hill station so additional Chiltern Railways services can run directly between Birmingham's business district and London Marylebone, and redeveloping Kings Norton station and the lines through it so extra Cross City trains can be added and new Midlands Rail Hub-enabled services can call there.

Denise Wetton, Network Rail's Central route director, said: "We are working to deliver early improvements and changes in Kings Norton and at Snow Hill to deliver benefits for passengers and communities as quickly as possible, while planning the bigger pieces of work which will enable much-wider benefits of the project.

"Identifying the preferred alliance partners is a really important step and highlights the commitment and intent to deliver a project of this size and the huge amounts of benefits it will provide to the Midlands and beyond."

The work forms part of ongoing collaboration between Network Rail, West Midlands Rail Executive, Midlands Connect, and the Department for Transport, following a £123m initial investment for design and development in last year’s government spending review.

The alliance partners will carefully plan timescales for the development of Midlands Rail Hub with early passenger benefits expected to be realised by the early 2030s.