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Transformed Birmingham New Street opens its doors

The refurbished Birmingham New Street station has opened its doors to passengers following its £750m transformation. 

Prior to the doors opening yesterday (20 September) RTM was given an exclusive tour of the site, which boasts an iconic atrium over a passenger concourse that is five times the size of London Euston’s. 

During the work an average of 1,000 workers were on site, 24 hours a day, seven days a week – increasing to 3,500 in the final months of the project. 

Over the last five years the team also had to remove tens of thousands of tonnes of concrete and other material to create the space for the new station. And approximately 20,000 sq metres of steel have been used to make up the new façade, installed by Martifer. 

Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, said: “Birmingham New Street sits right at the heart of our rail network and the transformation which has taken place here is nothing short of stunning. The station is now bigger, brighter and better able to meet the needs of the growing number of people who use it each day. 

“As Britain’s second city, Birmingham deserves a station of this calibre and, along with Grand Central, the investment we have made will help support the local economy and regenerate large parts of city centre.” 

The new station will feature 43 shops at concourse level and above it sits the new Grand Central shopping complex – due to open on Thursday (24 September). 

Patrick McLoughlin, secretary of state for transport, said: “The transformation of Birmingham New Street is a prime example of how our record investment in the railways is improving journeys for hardworking people and helping to rebalance the economy by driving growth across the country.” 

Sir Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham City Council, added that New Street station has undergone a “magnificent transformation” to become a vibrant, spacious and bright transport hub suitable for the city, and for the people of Birmingham to be proud of.

Philip Hoare, managing director of Transportation for UK & Europe at Atkins, said: “Over the last seven years Atkins has played a leading role in the design of Birmingham New Street Station and Grand Central, overcoming challenges by applying innovative solutions to successfully deliver the biggest station refurbishment in Europe. The end result is that Birmingham has a stunning gateway that befits its status as the UK’s second largest city.

“The station is a prime example of how to successfully deliver engineering excellence in a complex urban environment and the same principles will apply to major projects in the future including HS2. It is testament to all the teams involved that in delivering the work – including the removal of over 10,000 tonnes of concrete from the site – the station remained open transporting thousands of passengers each day.”