RAIL users were given a glimpse into plans for the new Kidderminster Railway Station at a public meeting at Severn Valley Railway on Tuesday night.

Stourbridge Line User Group (SLUG) joined residents from across the length of the rail route to hear representatives from London Midland, SLC Rail, Transport for West Midlands, West Midlands Rail and Chiltern Railway talk about the future of the region’s train services.

Ian Baxter, rail strategy and operations expert at SLC Rail, which advises Worcestershire County Council, revealed exclusive details about the new station, including plans for a modern glass building, landscaping to improve visibility from Comberton Hill and a more open forecourt.

Mr Baxter, a regular user of the Comberton Road station, said: “One of Worcestershire County Council’s main focuses is to open up this site so residents can actually see and admire the station from Comberton Hill, rather than it being shrouded by these big trees.

“It has been decided that it will be a modern building. The view reached was that this [Severn Valley] is the traditional world and that [Kidderminster station] is the modern railway. It will be a glass, light building with the new footbridge and a focus on the forecourt.”

He shared the county council’s hopes for the station to be ‘adopted’ by the community, with schools and groups volunteering to create planter gardens and displays. Talks are also taking place to improve Kidderminster’s rail services to London.

SLUG chairman William Whiting presented speakers with the group’s aims, which included ensuring the new station came with a bus interchange.

But it was revealed at the meeting that the council’s original plans to incorporate one into the forecourt have since been axed, in favour of retaining the 50 car parking spaces it would take up.

Instead, a bus interchange is set to be built outside the station – a space currently occupied by large trees – alongside a new taxi rank.

Updated plans also include a direct pathway between the two stations.

Brenda Lawrence, head of the Snow Hill route at London Midland, confirmed works are scheduled to start next year.

She said: “There is a lot of work to be done to redevelop Kidderminster station, including resolving pedestrian issues at the front of the station. It’s easy to say it’s taking such a long time but we’ve got to make sure that what we deliver is not only effective but safe.”

Planning bosses at Worcestershire County Council granted permission for the redevelopment in 2010 and this was later renewed in 2013. Artist impressions of the station are set to be revealed at a public meeting in coming months.