A very enjoyable morning spent at Birmingham New Street on the West Coast Mainline where we see plenty of services from London Northwestern Railway, West Midlands Railway, Cross Country, Transport For Wales, Avanti West Coast and action from Network Rail.
Birmingham New Street was built by the London and Northwestern Railway between the years of 1846 and 1854. Even though the station was officially opened in 1854 the station had been used for about 2 years beforehand, mostly because of the demand on the network. It was used as a terminus for the Stour Valley Line which came from the Wolverhampton side of the station. When the station was officially opened they closed the Curzon Street station which had been in place since 1838.
The layout of the tracks and the platforms came by the hands of one Robert Stevenson and his assistants. The station compromised of nine platforms, this contained four through platforms and five terminating bay platforms. The Midland Railway started using New Street in 1854 when it opened which then obviously closed down Curzon Street completely. But there was an issue faced. Because their trains were running between Derby and Bristol it meant that when they got into New Street they would have to reverse. This was the case right up until 1885 when the Birmingham West Suburban Railway was extended from the south of the city which then allowed direct running of trains from the south of the country without having to go through the whole rig-moral of reversing into the station. Because of this it meant that there was an increase in traffic coming into the station which then meant that it needed an extension. The extension would consist of four new through platforms and a new bay platform along with a glass and steel roof engine shed. A survey was taken in 1885 to see how many people would go through the station on a daily basis and it was recorded that on a weekday you had 22,000 passengers coming through and on a weekend there was 25,000 passengers.
When the 1960's made an appearance the station went through a complete new rebuild as part of the West Coast Mainline modernisation that was taking place at the time. The station would see twelve new through platforms replace the current eight through and six bay platforms. All the platforms were covered by a 7 acre concrete deck which would be supported by around 200 columns to support the immense structure.
Because the station is encased it was deemed to be an underground station by the local fire service which meant that steps had to be made to make the station safe and accessible for the emergency services to get to and allow the people in the station a means of escape. Because of the fire at Kings Cross in 1987 the station went through the magnifying glass and major changes were brought forward in order to make the station that much safer. A new footbridge was installed at the Wolverhampton end of the station which connected the station to the upper street level. All wooden fittings were removed and brand new fire doors were installed across the station.
During 2008 to 2015 the station went through one of the biggest changes ever made to a station on the national network whilst at the same time keeping the station open to the public and keeping trains running to a relatively good timetable. The new changes made to the station would include: A brand new station concourse that would feature shops, eateries, a new facade, entrances, lifts and escalators from each platform into the new station building. As well as new station approaches.
My next station is Worcester Shrub Hill.
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