Monday 13 Dec 2010
NO CHRISTMAS BREAK FOR GATEWAY PROJECT AS KEY BRIDGE INSTALLED
- Region & Route:
While people across the West Midlands are tucking into their Christmas dinners, the turkey will be on hold at Birmingham New Street as engineers working on the Gateway project use a huge crane to lift in a brand new section of bridge.
Navigation Street footbridge at the west end of the station will be extended to allow access to platform 12 for the first time and create a new station entrance on Hill Street.
Andrew Skidmore, programme sponsor for Network Rail commented: “This new section of bridge will give passengers more choice and improve access from the station to the south side of the city; however we can’t install it safely with passengers and trains travelling through the station. Birmingham relies on New Street station to keep it moving so we’re taking advantage of the two day shutdown of the national rail network to complete this important piece of work.”
To extend the bridge, engineers will use a huge 700 tonne crane which will be erected on Hill Street to safely remove the narrow bridge span which currently serves platforms 10/11. The crane will then lift the new span of the bridge into place.
Train services will operate as normal from Birmingham New Street up until the last train departure on Christmas Eve. The lifting operation will then start at midnight and will be complete by Boxing Day evening. New Street station, along with most of the rest of the rail network, will then reopen to passengers on Monday 27 December. However, there will be a rail replacement service between Redditch and New Street on 27 and 28 December, including fast buses from Redditch, as work continues on the Selly Oak bypass.
The extended Navigation Street bridge will open fully for passengers at the completion of phase one of the Gateway project in Autumn 2012.
With New Street station closed, an extensive bus and Metro service will be provided on Boxing Day by Centro, the region’s transport authority, and local bus companies. Full details of services on Boxing Day and the rest of the Christmas period are available by phoning Traveline on 0871 200 22 33 or by logging on to www.networkwestmidlands.com or www.nationalexpress.com/westmidlands For Coventry services visit www.nationalexpress.com/coventry
Notes to editors
- The existing bridge only has one exit onto Navigation Street and only serves platforms 2 to 11 meaning a long walk round for passengers who have a train to catch from platforms 1 or 12. The new bridge will provide access to every platform and by creating a second exit onto Hill Street, will ease congestion and give passengers more options to access the station.
- Hill Street will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians on Christmas Day however the bottom half of Hill Street will reopen on Boxing Day morning to allow shoppers and deliveries to access the Pallasades Shopping Centre. There will then be a series of night time road closures of Hill Street between 26 December and 28 December before the road fully reopens on 29 December.
- To enable the station to be open for passengers throughout the project, only one platform at a time is closing at New Street for refurbishment. Platform 1 which has been closed, reopened on 12 December when platform 12 closed for redevelopment. Because of the nature of the work in the concourse above, all platforms will be refurbished in several stages and further work on platform 1 will be required before the end of the project.
- Network Rail will transform New Street station into a bright, modern, 21st century focal point for Birmingham. The project will double passenger capacity and 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 Gateway project is funded by Network Rail, Birmingham City Council, Department for Transport, Advantage West Midlands and Centro. An integrated project team is managing delivery. This comprises Network Rail and its delivery partner, Mace, along with Atkins and Foreign Office Architects.
- Further details can be found at: www.newstreetnewstart.co.uk
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