The first railway stations New Street station was built in central Birmingham by the
London and North Western Railway (LNWR) between 1846 and 1854, on the site of several streets in a marshy area known as "The Froggery"; it replaced several earlier rail termini on the outskirts of the centre, most notably
Curzon Street, which had opened in 1838 and was no longer adequate for the level of traffic.
Original LNWR station '' on 3 June 1854 In 1846, the LNWR had obtained an act of Parliament, the '''''' (
9 & 10 Vict. c. ccclix), to extend their line into the centre of Birmingham, which involved the acquisition of some of land and the demolition of around 70 houses in Peck Lane, The Froggery, Queen Street and Colmore Street. The
Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion chapel, on the corner of Peck Lane and Dudley Street, which had only been built six years before, was also demolished. The station was formally opened on 1 June 1854, The station was constructed by Messrs.
Fox, Henderson & Co. and designed by
Edward Alfred Cowper of that firm, who had previously worked on the design of the
Crystal Palace. When completed, New Street had the largest arched single-span iron and glass roof in the world, spanning a width of and being long. It held this title for 14 years until
St Pancras station opened in 1868. It was originally intended to have three spans, supported by columns; however, it was soon realised that the columns would severely restrict the railway's operations. Cowper's single-span design, was therefore adopted, even though it was some 62 feet (19 metres) wider than the widest roof span at that time.
George Gilbert Scott praised Cowper's roof at New Street, stating "An iron roof in its most normal condition is too spider-like a structure to be handsome, but with a very little attention this defect is obviated. The most wonderful specimen, probably, is that at the great Birmingham Station…" When first opened, New Street was described as the "Grand Central Station at Birmingham" by Richard Foster. The internal layout of tracks and platforms was designed by
Robert Stephenson and his assistants; the station contained a total of nine platforms, comprising four through and five bay platforms. The roof of the original station was strengthened with additional steel tie bars during 1906–07, as a precaution following the
collapse of a similar roof which killed six people at
Charing Cross station in 1905. File:Victorian New Street.jpg|The interior of the original LNWR station in the late 19th century, with its once record-breaking roof File:New Street station, Victorian image.jpg|Victorian image of the interior of the LNWR station File:Victorian New Street Station.png|The main entrance building to the old station on Stephenson Street, incorporating Queens Hotel, c. 1920 File:Old New Street entrance 1803019.jpg|The main entrance to the old station on Stephenson Street, including Queens Hotel in 1962
Midland Railway extension Midland Railway trains that had used Curzon Street began to use New Street from 1854; however, its use by the Midland Railway was limited by the fact that those trains going between
Derby and Bristol would have to reverse, so many trains bypassed New Street and ran through
Camp Hill. This was remedied in 1885, when a new link to the south, the
Birmingham West Suburban Railway, was extended into New Street, which allowed through trains to and from the south-west to run via New Street without reversing. To cope with the increase in traffic that this would bring, the station required an extension; the construction of which began in 1881. A number of buildings, mostly along Dudley Street, were demolished to make room for it, including a number of cottages, some business premises and a small church. It consisted of a
trainshed with a glass and steel roof comprising two trussed arches, wide by long, and wide by long. It was designed by Francis Stevenson, chief engineer to the LNWR. Initially, the extension was used by both the LNWR and Midland Railway but, from 1889, it was only used by Midland Railway trains. It was separated from the original LNWR trainshed by Queens Drive, which became a central carriageway, but the two were linked by a footbridge which ran over Queens Drive and across the entire width of both the LNWR and Midland stations. Queens Drive was lost in the 1960s rebuild, but the name was later carried by a new driveway, which served the car park and a
tower block, and is the access route for the station's taxis. On 1 February 1910, the LNWR introduced a
City to City service between New Street and
Broad Street, in the
City of London. The service only lasted for five years, before being withdrawn on 22 February 1915, as a result of the
First World War.
LMS and British Rail In 1923, the LNWR and Midland Railway, with others, were grouped into the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) by the
Railways Act 1921. In 1948, the railways were
nationalised and came under the control of
British Railways. During the
Second World War, Cowper's roof sustained extensive bomb damage as a result of air raids during the
Birmingham Blitz. After the war, the remains of the roof were dismantled after being deemed beyond economic repair. It was replaced with austere canopies over the platforms, made from surplus war materials, which remained in use until the station was rebuilt in the 1960s. The rebuilt New Street station was opened on 6 March 1967 to coincide with the introduction of electric expresses on the West Coast Main Line. It cost £4.5 million to build (). The new station was designed by Kenneth J. Davies, lead planner for British Rail's
London Midland Region. Twelve through platforms replaced the eight through and six bay platforms of the previous station. The public
right of way across the station, which had previously been maintained by the station footbridge, was retained in the new station via a winding route through the shopping centre. and a
multi-storey car park dating from the 1970s. The car park closed in May 2012; it was demolished to provide space for the new concourse and was rebuilt. Stephenson Tower, a 20-storey residential tower block, was built alongside the station between 1965 and 1966. The tower, designed by the
City Architect of Birmingham, was demolished in March 2012 as part of the station redevelopment. In 1987, twelve different horse sculptures by Kevin Atherton, titled
Iron Horse, were erected between New Street station and Wolverhampton at a cost of £12,000. One stands on platform 7 at New Street. Due to its enclosed sub-surface platforms, New Street was designated as an underground station by the fire service. In the 1990s, a number of changes had to be made to the station in order to comply with stricter fire regulations, introduced for underground stations as a result of the 1987
King's Cross fire. In 1993, a new enclosed footbridge was opened at the Wolverhampton end of the station, with access to the platforms separate from the main building; this was built primarily as a fire exit, but the new exit from the station into Navigation Street was opened to the public. All wooden fittings were removed from the platforms and new fire doors were also installed at the foot of the stairs and elevators on the platforms. By the 2000s, the station was unpopular with its users. In a 2007 survey, it scored a customer satisfaction rate of only 52%, the joint lowest of any Network Rail major stations along with
Liverpool Lime Street and
East Croydon. The station had become inadequate for the level of traffic with which it was dealing; it had been designed with capacity for 650 trains and 60,000 passengers per day. In 2008, there were 1,350 trains and over 120,000 passengers per day. This made overcrowding and closures on safety grounds more common. Furthermore, the 1960s concrete architecture and enclosed design was widely criticised on aesthetic grounds. In November 2003, the station was voted the second biggest "eyesore" in the UK by readers of
Country Life magazine. In books on railway station architecture, it was described by Steven Parissien as a "depressing underground bunker" and by
Simon Jenkins as "hideous". File:Birmingham New Street July 2006.JPG|The concrete external architecture of the 1960s station File:Birmingham New St (6282411699).jpg|The western end of the station File:Birmingham New Street stn platform 2 look south.JPG|A Virgin Trains Pendolino waiting at platform 2 at New Street in 2009 File:Birmingham New Street station concourse - 2005-10-13.jpg|The former station concourse at rush hour File:Horse sculpture - geograph.org.uk - 1526168.jpg|
Iron Horse sculpture
New Street signal box The power signal box at New Street was completed in 1964 on the site of the former turntable; it housed the Westpac geographical interlocking and signalmen's push button control panel (the largest relay interlocking in the world when installed) and also the railway telephone exchange. The eight-level structure with five main storeys, including track and street levels, and cable chamber below track level, is at the side of the tracks connected to Navigation Street. In 1995 it was protected as a Grade II-
listed building. Until recently, two small sidings (nos. 2 & 3 Engine Sidings) were located in front of the signal box which were used for stabling
electric locomotives; this was in connection with locomotive changes from diesel to electric traction on cross-country services heading north. As they are no longer needed, these have now been removed in connection with the ongoing resignalling project for the station area. No. 1 Engine Siding was located at the north end, between platforms 4 and 5, and was lengthened some years ago to form platform 4C.
Don's Miniature New Street A
Sutton Coldfield model railway enthusiast, Don Jones, built a scale model of the entire 1960s station and surrounding buildings including the
Rotunda, the
old Head Post Office and the signal box, at
OO scale; open days were held to raise funds for local charities. Private visits were held for
Robert Redford and
King Hussein of Jordan. A regeneration scheme was launched in 2006 and evolved through names such as Birmingham Gateway, Gateway Plus and New Street Gateway. The scheme proposed complete rebuilding of the street-level buildings and refurbishment of the platforms by 2013, with track and platform level remaining essentially unchanged. The approved planning application of August 2006 showed a glass facade with rounded edges. The entrance on Station Street originally included two curved tall towers on the site of Stephenson Tower. Due to the economic slowdown, the "twin towers" plan was shelved. In February 2008, the
Secretary of State for Transport,
Ruth Kelly, announced that the
Department for Transport would provide £160 million in addition to £128 million through the government white paper
Delivering a Sustainable Railway. A further £100 million came from the
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and channelled through
Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency. The announcement brought total government spending on the project to £388 million. After earlier proposals were discarded, six architects were shortlisted to design the new station following a call for submissions and it was announced, in September 2008, that the design by
Foreign Office Architects had been chosen. The approved plans for the redevelopment included: • A new concourse three-and-a-half times larger than the 1960s concourse, with a domed
atrium at the centre to let in natural light • Refurbished platforms reached by new escalators and lifts • A new station facade and new entrances. The fact that the proposed Gateway development would leave the railway capacity of the station more or less unaltered has not escaped attention. In July 2008, the House of Commons Transport Committee criticised the plans; it was not convinced they were adequate for the number of trains which could use the station. It said if the station could not be adapted, then the government needed to look for alternative solutions which potentially included a completely new station in the city. Work began on the redevelopment on 26 April 2010. Construction was completed in phases to minimise disruption. On 28 April 2013, one half of the new concourse was opened to the public and the old 1960s concourse was closed for redevelopment, along with the old entrances. The complete concourse opened on 20 September 2015, the Grand Central shopping centre four days later. The refurbished Pallasades Shopping Centre was renamed Grand Central and included a
John Lewis department store. During heavy winds on 30 December 2015, several roof tiles blew off, landing in the adjacent Station Street, which was therefore closed by the police as a precautionary measure.
Simon Jenkins included the rebuilt station in his book ''Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations'', describing it as retail-centred with platforms "no more dignified than before", but nevertheless "a vast improvement on its predecessor". ==Operations==