New Street station reopens after £750m transformation

Birmingham New Street station has reopened in its transformed form, with a vast new concourse beneath a light-filled atrium replacing the dark, cramped station that passengers have complained about for decades.

The complete new concourse opened to passengers on 20 September, the final stage of a £750 million redevelopment carried out while the station stayed open. The Grand Central shopping centre above it, with a new John Lewis department store, is due to open on 24 September.

What has changed

The new concourse is three and a half times larger than the old one, with a domed atrium at its centre letting natural light flood in. The station has a new exterior clad in reflective stainless steel, designed to mirror the city around it, and new entrances, including one on Stephenson Street.

The redevelopment, known as Gateway Plus, was designed by the architects Foreign Office Architects, who were chosen in 2008. The tracks and platforms remain largely unchanged, but passengers now reach them from a much larger, brighter space.

Goodbye to the bunker

The old station, rebuilt in the 1960s, was one of the most unpopular in the country. It was designed for 650 trains and 60,000 passengers a day, but by 2013 was handling 140,000 passengers a day. In a 2007 survey, it had a customer satisfaction rating of just 52 per cent. Writers described it as a "depressing underground bunker" and "hideous", and in 2003 readers of Country Life magazine voted it the second biggest eyesore in the country.

As part of the project, the 20-storey Stephenson Tower flats beside the station and the multi-storey car park above it were demolished.

Grand Central

Above the station, the old Pallasades shopping centre has been completely rebuilt as Grand Central, with more than 60 shops, restaurants and cafes under a new transparent roof. John Lewis, which is opening its first store in the city, will be the main attraction, and many of the other shops are new to Birmingham.

A footbridge links Grand Central to the Bullring, creating one of the largest city centre shopping areas in the country.

Funding

The project was paid for by the government, Network Rail, the city council and other partners. In 2008, the then transport secretary, Ruth Kelly, announced £160 million of government funding towards the scheme, taking total government spending on it at the time to £388 million.

A new gateway

New Street is the busiest station in the country outside London and the hub of the national rail network. For many visitors, it is their first sight of the city. Civic and business leaders hope the new station will give a much better first impression, and help attract investment to Birmingham.

Next year, Metro trams will start running to a new stop outside the station on Stephenson Street, linking it directly with Snow Hill and Wolverhampton.