BIRMINGHAM — Tuesday, 6 January 2026 — An unexploded Second World War mortar discovered beside a major railway line near Duddeston in Birmingham forced the evacuation of an industrial estate, the closure of routes into Birmingham New Street and widespread train disruption across the West Midlands, The WP Times reports, citing West Midlands Police.
The device was found at Duddeston Mill Trading Estate, on Duddeston Mill Road in Washwood Heath, close to the rail corridor serving Duddeston station and Birmingham New Street, one of the UK’s busiest rail hubs. West Midlands Police said officers were called shortly before 9:45am after the discovery of what they described as “an old mortar device.”
A 100-metre exclusion zone was immediately established around the site, and workers and members of the public in the area were evacuated while specialist teams assessed the threat. Police confirmed the incident was contained within the trading estate but that the safety cordon directly affected the nearby railway line, requiring services to be suspended.
An Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team was deployed to the scene to secure the device. During the operation, Network Rail closed the lines between Birmingham New Street and Duddeston, causing major delays and cancellations across the regional network. Trains running towards Tamworth, Derby and Sheffield were among those affected, with services cancelled, diverted or revised while the emergency response continued.
A Network Rail spokesperson said the operator was working closely with West Midlands Police and that services would remain disrupted “while the incident is made safe.”
By early afternoon, police confirmed that the EOD team had successfully made the mortar safe, allowing the exclusion zone to be lifted and the railway to reopen. National Rail subsequently announced that all lines had reopened, but warned passengers that trains to, from and through Birmingham New Street could still be cancelled, delayed by up to 50 minutes, revised or diverted as timetables were restored. Disruption was expected to continue until around 3:00pm.
Unexploded bombs from the Second World War continue to be discovered across the UK, particularly during construction or redevelopment work. Thousands of such devices are dealt with every year by specialist teams, and standard safety procedures require transport links to be suspended whenever a device is found close to critical infrastructure.
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