MINISTERS SEE BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET PROGRESS

Tuesday 20 Sep 2011

MINISTERS SEE BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET PROGRESS

Region & Route:: National

Two government ministers today took a behind-the-scenes tour of Birmingham New Street to see how work is progressing on the station’s redevelopment, which will create a world-class station for passengers and boost the economy of Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and transport minister Norman Baker took time out from the Liberal Democrat party conference being held in Birmingham to tour Network Rail’s site.

Danny Alexander said: “The redevelopment of New Street station is a great example of this government’s commitment to investing in infrastructure to support economic growth. The project will have huge economic benefits for Birmingham by opening up a new quarter of the city centre to regeneration and directly creating hundreds of new jobs for local people.”

The ministers toured the first half of the new station concourse which will open to passengers at the end of 2012 and saw preparations being made to redevelop the south side of the station.

Norman Baker added: "Birmingham New Street is the busiest station outside London, so it’s great news for passengers that improvements are on the way. The redeveloped station will not only look fantastic, it will deliver more space, better facilities and better access for the thousands of people who use it every day.

"Improvements like this are prime examples of this government’s commitment to continued significant investment in rail and providing the infrastructure the economy needs.

"New Street will also be the heart of an integrated transport network for the West Midlands, with better pedestrian access and a direct interchange with the Midland Metro extension from Snow Hill."

Network Rail has committed to keeping the station open for passengers throughout the project. The first half of the new concourse is being built next door to the existing station; when this opens at the end of next year, Network Rail will start work to redevelop the existing station, with the project due to complete in 2015.

Notes to editors

The redevelopment is backed by Birmingham City Council, Network Rail, Department for Transport, Advantage West Midlands and Centro.

Network Rail is delivering the project alongside its delivery partner, Mace.

The redevelopment of Birmingham New Street will double passenger capacity, improve access down to the platforms and improve pedestrian links across the city.

The project will deliver:

a concourse that is three-and-a-half times bigger than at present and enclosed by a giant, light-filled atrium
more accessible, brighter and clearer platforms, serviced by over 40 new escalators and over 15 new public lifts
a stunning new station façade
better links to and through the station for pedestrians, with eight new entrances
the stimulus for the physical regeneration of the areas surrounding the station

The Southside development, including the Pallasades upgrade and new John Lewis department store is expected to create up to 1,000 new jobs.

Project timeline:

April 2010: work commences
Spring 2012: work starts to construct the John Lewis department store
Christmas 2012: Phase 1 complete, first half of the new station opens to passengers, works move to develop the existing station
Autumn 2014: John Lewis department store opens
2015: project complete

For more information, go to: www.newstreetnewstart.co.uk

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About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.