National award for West Midlands Railway's new Cross City Line train fleet

A new West Midlands Railway (WMR) train fleet which has transformed millions of journeys on Birmingham's Cross City Line has picked up a prestigious national award.

The Class 730/0 fleet of electric trains was introduced onto the route, which runs between Lichfield, Birmingham and Redditch/Bromsgrove, last year to replace an outgoing 30-year-old train fleet.

The new trains - part of WMR's £1billion investment in the railway - brought a significant increase in capacity to the line as well as customer benefits including air conditioning, improved accessibility and power points at every seat.

The introduction of the Class 730/0s onto the Cross City Line was named "Fleet Achievement of the Year" at the National Rail Awards in London last night (Wednesday 17 September 2025). Judges said the trains had made a significant difference for passengers in the West Midlands.

John Doughty, WMR engineering director, said: "The introduction of the Class 730/0 fleet represented the biggest upgrade to the Cross City Line since the 1990s. The trains have proved incredibly popular with our customers and their arrival has certainly contributed to the increasing number of passengers we are seeing using the route each year.

"Introducing a new train fleet is never an easy task with a lot of moving parts and I am pleased to see the hard work of everybody at West Midlands Railway in bringing the trains into service recognised at the National Rail Awards."

Each three-carriage Class 730 train has capacity for 546 passengers. As the trains run in pairs on the Cross City Line, providing six carriages for customers to use, every service can comfortably carry more than 1,000 people.

The National Rail Awards is run by RAIL magazine and is often referred to as the 'Oscars of the railway'.

More information on the fleet is available on the West Midlands Railway website: Class 730 fleet | West Midlands Railway.