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Notes to editors

1. The £600m Gateway project will see 1960s-built New Street station transformed into a bright, modern, 21st century focal point for Birmingham. It will double passenger capacity and deliver:

- a concourse that is three-and-a-half times bigger than at present, enclosed by a giant, light-filled atrium

- more accessible, brighter and clearer platforms, reached by new escalators and new lifts

- a stunning new station façade, adding to Birmingham’s growing reputation for good design

- better links to and through the station for pedestrians, with eight entrances

- a major stimulus for the physical regeneration of the areas surrounding the station

2. The impact on passengers will be kept to a minimum as most of the work will take place off-site. Phase 1 will see a new concourse built in a former car park next to the station. This concourse is expected to open in 2012 and preparatory work started in September 2009. Phase 2 will then see the existing concourse closed for redevelopment. The project is expected to complete in 2015.

3. Network Rail expects to award contracts for around 60 individual work packages. Birmingham City Council’s employment access team will work with Network Rail and the successful contractors to define the skills mix required for each package and provide information on where local skills and resources might meet any vacancies. Information on how the public can register their interest and discuss their skills, experience and training needs will be announced in due course.

4. New Street in numbers:

- 40m – people who use New Street every year

- 140,000 – passengers using the station every day

- 60,000 – the amount of passengers per day New Street was designed to cater for when it was rebuilt in 1967

- £2.3bn – the economic benefits of New Street station redevelopment

- £350m – the amount Network Rail is investing in renewing the signalling systems through New Street and the West Midlands over the next ten years