First half of New Street's new concourse opens

The first half of the new concourse at Birmingham New Street station has opened to passengers, giving the first glimpse of the transformed station.

The new concourse opened on 28 April, and the old 1960s concourse has now closed so that it can be rebuilt as the second half of the new space.

A brighter station

When complete, the new concourse will be three and a half times larger than the old one, with a domed atrium at its centre letting in natural light. The redevelopment, known as Gateway Plus, also includes a new exterior for the station and new entrances.

The station is being rebuilt while it stays open, with trains running as normal throughout. That has meant the work has had to be done in stages, with passengers moved from one part of the station to another as it progresses.

Why New Street is being rebuilt

The current station was built in the 1960s to handle 650 trains and 60,000 passengers a day. It now deals with around 140,000 passengers a day, and overcrowding has become a serious problem, with parts of the station sometimes closed on safety grounds.

It has also been one of the most unpopular stations in the country. In a 2007 survey, its customer satisfaction rate was just 52 per cent, and in 2003 readers of Country Life magazine voted it the second biggest eyesore in the UK.

Work so far

To make room for the new station, the 20-storey Stephenson Tower flats next to the station were demolished last year, along with the multi-storey car park above the station.

The design, by Foreign Office Architects, was chosen in 2008, after the government announced funding for the project.

Grand Central

Above the station, the old Pallasades shopping centre is being rebuilt as a new shopping centre, which will include a large John Lewis department store. The shopping centre and the rest of the station are due to be completed in 2015.

What passengers need to know

Passengers are being advised to allow extra time while they get used to the new layout, and to follow signs to the platforms and exits. Station staff are on hand to help.

The partial opening is a key milestone in a project that has been years in the planning. Plans to rebuild the station were first shown to the public in 2006, and campaigners, passengers and business leaders have argued for decades that Birmingham deserves a better gateway.

For the tens of thousands of commuters who use the station every day, the new concourse is a welcome first sign that the days of the dark, cramped station are numbered.