Businesses looking forward to new railway station

Claire Rinet, who runs CDC Dance Ltd and Joe Fearn, from Circus Mash, feel Kings Heath Station could be good for business

Business leaders in Birmingham have said they are "excited" to see work on a long-awaited new railway station nearing completion.

Transport for West Midlands said work to build the Camp Hill Line stations at Kings Heath, Moseley and Pineapple Road was on track to finish by the end of the year.

There has been talk of a new station off Kings Heath's high street for about a decade, but the project was put back twice.

People living and working in the area said they were looking forward to the station not only bringing extra footfall but also helping to ease congestion on the main road.

Enjoy Kings Heath BID manager Matt Powell said: "We're excited to see it nearing completion."

He added there had not been a station there for 70 years "so ultimately most people - businesses included - think it can only be a good thing for the high street".

"I think the opportunity for us is getting more people here more easily from other parts of the city," he said.

Roadworks and lane closures have caused some delays in the area.

Mr Powell said: "Obviously we understand you can't complete a project of this scale without causing some knock-on challenges, which we're working with our businesses to try to communicate back to them as much as possible."

An artist impression has been released of the new Kings Heath Station on Birmingham's Camp Hill line

The Camp Hill line project was one of a number of transport schemes hit with delays due to increased costs of about £121m, and the work was originally due to have been completed by 2023.

Joe Fearn, 39, who runs Circus Mash, has grown up in the area and runs a business providing circus classes for young people.

There were a lot of people "who contact us from far but can't really come to evening classes", he said.

"There is the 50 bus route which runs from Druids Heath. But our closest train station is Kings Norton, which is a bus ride away anyway. This now connects everything."

The wider project has been put back twice, including last year due to increased costs of about £121m

Claire Rinet, who runs CDC Dance Ltd on the high street, has lived in the area for 20 years.

She said: "The area has changed massively in that time, certainly in terms of the growth of the high street and the variety of businesses we have here.

"Having a train station is going to attract more businesses and greater footfall as a result."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.