As Hannah noted before me this is a weird railway station. I would add the word desolate! Weird…read morebecause it is on multiple levels making it very customer unfriendly if (like me today) you are laden with a heavy suitcase from airline travel to London. No staff to guide you so I could have made a connection but no idea if it was the right train. And it was I discovered just too late - oh well next one in 25 minutes.

On the train as I make this, it's fairly quite and seems to be quick, train wait isn't too long.read more

Birmingham International Railway Station is a pretty cool station, considering it isn't…read moreBirmingham's main station, infact it is around a 10-15 minute journey into the city centre (New Street), with this station serving the NEC and Airport, it is in the Solihull borough of the city and should not be confused with New Street (Some of the photos on Yelp appear to be from Birmingham New Street). The station is managed by Avanti West Coast, with five platforms, as far as I'm aware all services call via Birmingham New Street however services also go to major cities such as Manchester, Bournemouth, London, Glasgow and Reading with services provided by Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Trains. The station seemed pretty clean, it is easy to get around the station and access the AirTrain which takes you directly to the Airport, and the walkway which takes you to the NEC and Resorts World. You can continue your journey via the many bus routes which stop right outside, or the Airtrain. There is also a small WHSmith and Subway before the ticket gates which is handy. The staff at the station are friendly and happy to call out, and I look forward to using this station again, it might not be as glamorous as St Pancras / Birmingham New Street but certainly does the job. 4*

A dated train station that could do with an upgrade. Good service to the city centre.read more

Down the Cross City line from Sutton Coldfield, or up from Chester Road if you're heading that way…read more(actually, a trainspotter would say you were heading up from Sutton and down from Chester Road, but that's a different kettle of anoraks) is Wylde Green - a sleepy little station in a leafy little part of town. The station is effectively nothing more than a place to pick up and drop passengers off and has no facilities other than a ticket office and a whole heap of stairs to get up the platform (a right bugger if the train's just pulling in as you're buying your ticket!) and is a very modern metal and concrete construction with very long platforms. One upside to the place is that you can walk off the Sutton end of both platforms and walk along a path which leads you up onto Highbridge Road, which makes access pretty easy from all directions.

A ticket booth rather than office just about provides a roof for those in the queue, but that's…read moreabout all the shelter you'll find until you're on the platform themselves. It has two, one taking commuters towards Brum, the other towards Lichfield. From Station Road, you access the to-New Street trains by passing the ticket booth and navigating a wide but steep stairwell. For Lichfield, you access the platform by ramp. Those amount to exits too, but you can access and leave both platforms away from Station road and further into the residential streets towards Jockey Road. And that's the thing, despite the name of this station, this is still essentially a central Sutton stop, the best point by which to access Boldmere or Beeches Walk's restaurants and pub, perhaps even Empire cinema. If you want Wylde Green's commercial strip running alongside Birmingham Road, or even Penns Lane, Chester Road is the station to use. There is parking at Wylde Green railway station, and it has been expanded within the last couple of years, but there remain better park and ride options at stations along the Sutton stretch of the Cross-City Line, particularly Four Oaks. Don't expect a shop or vending machine either. This is simply about getting you from A to B.

A cute little train station where it only takes 17mins (to be precise!) to cruise into the centre…read moreof town. The station has recently had a fresh lick of paint, which has really spruced up the place. The ticket office tends to be shut after 6pm, so you will need to go down the ramp and across the bridge to get to the other platform for trains heading towards Brum.

This is an ideal station for people needing to park to get the train to Birmingham City. The…read morestation boasts two large car parks and offers wheelchair access throughout. This train line is one of the busiest in the West Midlands. It stretches as far as Lichfield (Staffordshire) and goes through to Longbridge and Redditch calling at several main town stations such as Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Aston and of course Birmingham New Street. So if you are a shopper this is the station to get your train from. The office here is manned part-time and mainly covers the peak time slots. The staff are friendly and willing to help and they keep the car parks and surrounding areas clean and tidy. There are shelters on the platforms so if the heavens open up you can keep dry until your train arrives. This station is located on the outskirts of Four Oaks and has a large pub/restaurant next to it called the Blake Barn Inn. There is a small convenience store just a few minutes up from the station and a few minutes after that you are lead out onto the main Lichfield Road.

It's one of the quietest and relatively attractively-set stations on the Cross-City Line which…read morelinks Lichfield to Birmingham. A huge ticket office and car park boost the site and while there is a dingy underpass letting you switch platforms, it really is quite safe. Typical of the stations across the Sutton stretch of the line, the staff are particularly friendly. Despite the car park, it's not overly blessed as a viable park and ride option and over the years, residents have been increasingly complaining about commuters' ditched cars clogging up roads outside their homes. Do them a favour and drive to Four Oaks station (two stops along). That said, the location makes the activity tempting as it's just a short trip into Sutton Coldfield from here and, as the last stop within the northern end of the Birmingham boundary, also a short ride into Lichfield. If you've been using the station simply as a point to begin a rail journey, don't dismiss the idea of having a look around the estate on which it's based - the Blake Barn pub is nearby and scores not too badly with its outdoor seating and great meal deals.

Tame Bridge Parkway is a useful little station on the main Walsall to Birmingham line. It lies on…read morea convenient commuter route half way between West Bromwich and Walsall and well connected by the legendary 404 bus route. Parking is free. Places can be at a premium after about 8.15am in the morning and overspill often takes in the road to the car park itself. There is an automatic machine to buy tickets and a ticket office to duck out of the rain from or if you just want to grab today's copy of the Metro. There are no toilet facilities or snack machines though. Due to the location of Tame Bridge Parkway, if trains are cancelled, you would be forced to take the 404 to West Bromwich and get the metro or the 74/75 (the former taking 15 mins, the latter taking as long as it needs to to clear Handsworth).

A convenient train station with trains pulling into Birmingham New Street 20 minutes later…read more There is a free car park which gets full during the week days with commuters, but I have been known to arrive here at 11am or later and there has been the odd space despite the cars parking on the road. There is one self serve ticket machine outside, and a ticket counter inside the waiting area which is always manned. There is no toilet here which would be a nice addition as would a little coffee hatch. All in all a good station that is always kept clean and tidy.

Once again, an English city that has multiple railway termini because, well, privatised railways…read more Then again, when it was built the only people investing in railways were private companies. However, this station is pretty massive. In fact it is so big that it is really quite easy to get lost in it. In fact, there are like four areas where you go to catch a train, and two of them don't meet (which means you have to exit, and then enter again). Anyway, this station isn't bad, and it even has a pub in it, which is cool.

Birmingham Moor Street might be one of the smaller stations in the city centre, and it might not be…read moreas big, bold and modern, while also lacking the number of railway services compared to New Street, but Birmingham Moor Street just has something I like. Its minimalistic style is beautiful and rather nice, it feels like a traditional old British railway station done well, even down to the platform numbers. It is right opposite the Bullring, I would recommend heading to a store inside there, or perhaps Subway to get some food for the train, as other than a few small stores, there isn't much on offer here especially if you are making a long journey. The station is managed by Chiltern Railways and is the terminus of their route into London Marleybone. Services are also offered by West Midlands Railway. Many of the services from this station are mainly local services, into the likes of Birmingham Snow Hill and Solihull, sadly there are no connections into Birmingham International (For the Airport and NEC). I found the staff at the station to be a little rude and unhelpful, which was a sad first interaction with Chiltern Railways. 3* - Traditional old station with a good feel to it, obviously the lack of services and unfriendly staff do let it down and I will always prefer travelling via New Street, but this isn't a bad alternative.

Of the four disused Sutton stations on the Sutton Park line (Sutton Town, Sutton Park, Penns and…read moreStreetly), the last two are the ones which have been most completely obliterated from the landscape. Whereas Sutton Town still has both buildings standing and Sutton Park has the ruins of its two platforms. Anyone looking for a hint of past railway activities in Walmley will be sorely disappointed. Up until recently, vague traces of where the station (which shut in the mid 1960s) had been visible from the railway bridge at the Walmley Village end of Penns Lane. Some work done on the line not so long ago means that nowadays even these feint outlines no longer exist either. If you're interested in local history, it's worth maybe a look over the bridge if you happen to be walking past but unless you've got a VERY good imagination, stick to seeing what old pictures you can find.

Historic old station is Sutton Coldfield, and one of the few on the Cross City line which manages…read moreto preserve it's old look and feel whilst still having modern facilities. The station has at least four different entrances which makes it easily accessible whichever direction you're travelling from. There's also a big car park and a new lift for disabled access. The Birmingham-bound platform has a self-service ticket machine which is ideal as it saves a long slog to the ticket office, the platform is also covered which helps on rainy days and there's a small newsagents which is run by a very friendly gentleman. One of the problems with the station is that the entrance next to the Station pub closes early which means you either have to walk all the way round to the main entrance on Railway Road or down a dark alley to enter the platform through a gate further down. If the gate's open, you might as well leave the door open a bit longer, surely?

This station just about offers a blast from the past; a window into how things were and cannot be…read moreagain. It was once the scene of a major rail tragedy back in the days of steam engines, but it's the waiting rooms and awnings which speak of the '50s loudest. For all that, despite the recent installation of a lift, things don't feel all that pleasant, with new infrastructure and branding making for a jarring experience. It always seems that bit too dingy and dusty. It's not that well laid-out either, with running commuters a common sight as they try to navigate their way up a ramp from the Lichfield-bound platform, through the ticket office, and down the steps to the Birmingham-bound platform. It's a journey in itself. This is why Four Oaks has a link bridge over the tracks. A handy tip now: The Birmingham platform (complete with auto-ticket machine) and indeed the stairs leading up to the ticket office can be accessed via a doorway at the end of Station Street by The Station Hotel pub. If you're already in the heart of commercial Sutton, this can save you the job of walking the incline to the formal Railway Road entrance. But be warned, this entrance is not always open and you could find yourself having to access the Railway Road entrance anyway, adding a precious minute or two onto your itinerary; not ideal if your train is due. There is parking, with access further along Railway Road. Both platforms are well-sheltered, all too rare on the Cross-City Line, and on the Birmingham-bound platform, there is a small shop. Near the shop is an access to Park Road; the fourth entrance / exit to the station.

Marston Green Railway station is located on the West Coast Mainline, and is run by London Midland,…read morewhich also operates services to Birmingham New Street, Coventry, Northampton, and London Euston stations. There are 2 to 3 services to Birmingham New Street every hour and around 2 to 3 services to Birmingham International every hour, with less frequent services further down the West Coast Mainline. Marston Green station is located on the end of Birmingham International airports runway, which offers great views of arriving and departing aircraft, and there are several bus connections to places surrounding the Marston green area. As the station is located on the west coast mainline, many services pass through at high speed.