£600m station planned for Birmingham

Sep 19 2008

DESIGNS for the £600m redevelopment of New Street railway station in Birmingham have been unveiled.

The Birmingham Gateway project will see the station revamped to cater for more than 52 million passengers a year.

Its concourse will become three-and-a-half times larger and be enclosed by a giant light-filled atrium.

More than 40 new escalators and 14 new lifts will be installed and up to 10,000 jobs could be created for the city.

The contemporary designs, which use reflective metal, have been drawn up by the London-based Foreign Office Architects.

Iain Coucher, chief executive of Network Rail, said: "Passengers have come to expect better, quicker and more reliable journeys, and stations fit for the 21st century.

"We listened to the people of Birmingham and made New Street a top priority.

"With this new design we can be sure of a top-class station for the millions of people who use it every year."

Councillor Mike Whitby, chairman of the New Street Gateway Funders' Board, said: "With the world looking on, this breathtaking design firmly places Birmingham on the international map for very high quality, daring design."

The first phase of the redevelopment is expected to finish by 2013, with the whole project completed in 2014.