Great Western Coffee Shop

A BBC report on the fininshing touches at Birmingham...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34293999

Reports yesterday that the platforms haven't got much lighter.

Was there 5.30pm Thursday. The passengers were really shoehorned into minimal space while there was an air of desperation amongst the workers to get the place finished. The angle grinders in Stephenson Street where the tramlines are were really working overtime.
The curving lines of the exterior,the preponderance of stainless steel and the  giant 'eye' which is such a feature, reminds me of the spaceship and  Klatuu the robot in 'The day the earth stood still', with Michael Rennie as his sidekick!

Not much has changed won at platform level. There will be a lot more circulation space upstairs. But the capacity of the station is now capacity of the escalators between the two. Sunday should see a new set of staircases added.

The shopping will be nice. But alas, I don't go to a station for the shopping.

I don't think they were intended to be given any extra daylight generally.   There is one area where a sort of skylight has been opened up, but it only affects one end of one island IIRC.

Paul

I had a good look round the station last week to see how things were shaping up prior to the opening, and to check on the progress of the Snow Hill to New Street tram extension.

Still looked to be an awful lot of work to do around the station area, though much of that is probably connected to the tram extension, which doesn't look to me like it will be ready to open until next year, let alone the end of the month the Wikipedia entry is quoting.

I'm distinctly in two minds about the exterior reflective cladding, as, especially if you are looking down on it from slightly higher ground on some of the streets that surround it, it simply reflects the buildings that are cluttered around it and looks pretty ugly IMHO.  However from the right angle, closer up, I'm sure it reflects the sky and will look pretty good.

You could get a glimpse inside between hoardings of the new concourse area and that did look really bright and spacious, two words that haven't ever been associated with New Street before, and I agree that there's little that can be done to make the platforms much brighter, certainly not through natural light anyway.



The area by Snow Hill, showing virtually completed tram tracks and the grassy area the trams will run through, though still much work to be done on the new Snow Hill tram stop and connections to the existing network further down the slope:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5646/21351153098_fa1c50ba8d_z.jpg)



A view of tram tracks laid between Snow Hill and New Street  on Bull Street:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/763/21538998755_0174fd727b_z.jpg)



An entrance to the new shopping centre with tram line construction in the foreground.  Note the reflections from the cladding which are hardly inspiring.  In fact, from a distance I thought part of that building was covered in tarpaulin!
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/683/21351154178_3bdb94b2c9_z.jpg)



Another uninspiring view of the new station with drab reflections:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/781/20917876083_ee82b19358_b.jpg)

Many thanks for posting those images, for the benefit of our readers (like me) who aren't able to pop into Birmingham to see things for themselves, IndustryInsider.  ;)


I agree with you: it looks rubbish, and will continue to do so, even when the construction site is cleared (except, possibly, in brilliant sunlight, occasionally?). ::)

This photo shows the main entrance as it was during the rebuilding.

(Ideally) you need to know whether your train departs from the A or the B end of the platforms before you enter the station! That's quite probable for regular users, but quite what a casual visitor was expected to do I'm not so sure.

And yes, XC towards Bristol could be either.

Yes, that confused me completely when I arrived at Platform 11B a few weeks ago and couldn't find the concourse.......must be getting (very) old...... ::) :P

Probably not helped by the fact that the (new) escalators were out of action and boarded up.

Well here we are http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-34312400

Travelled through it today. Very busy on account of the shopping part opening for the first time, so a lot of temporary crush barriers (and stewards). Probably not the best day for a visit. And they're expecting big numbers tomorrow (Friday Sept 25) and over the weekend.

In an inspired conjunction, the Rugby World Cup has games at Villa Park on Saturday (South Africa v. Samoa, 16:45) and Sunday (Australia v. Uruguay, 12:00) - so it could be well worth avoiding New Street this weekend!

Meanwhile, what are my first impressions? Well, it's a superb shopping centre. The John Lewis store starts on the first floor, immediately above the station. The public space immediately outside the main entrance (where the cars and taxis came in in the 'old' station) is excellent, linking across into the Bullring shops.

But I wait to be convinced about it as a railway station, especially given that I tend to use it to change between trains. There's a detailed PDF plan at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/birmingham-new-street-station/departures-arrivals/ (http://www.networkrail.co.uk/birmingham-new-street-station/departures-arrivals/), but you need to look very carefully for the 'station plan' link down at the bottom right-hand corner.

There's six separate gatelines (will all of those be manned all of the time?), leading to three separate groups of platforms by way of "red", "blue" and "yellow" "lounges". Noticeable that the PDF doesn't use colour to distinguish these spaces.

The "red lounge" serves the B end of the platforms (trains heading SW and NW, plus the steerage end of the Londons) and is essentially the bridge that has been there and open for the last 18 months. It isn't painted red (as a car park or similar would be). It has escalators and lifts to the platforms, but no steps. So when the escalator fails, hard luck - you'll have to go via the A end (there is a sneaky alternative that's too complicated to describe here).

The "blue lounge" serves the A end of the low-numbered platforms (trains heading SE towards Coventry and London, plus Walsall). The "yellow lounge" serves the A end of the high-numbered platforms (NE to Derby and Leicester, plus Sutton Coldfield). Didn't have a chance to see what those spaces looked like. They both have escalators, lifts and stairs.

What does strike me about this arrangement is what happens when you change trains, especially between the A end of the platforms - between yellow and blue you'll need to go out and in through two gatelines. Fortunately I'm a regular but not a frequent user. I know that the Worcester trains will go from 12B (or 10B or 11B). I'll walk from one platform to another via the "red lounge". But I'd be concerned about how infrequent users will manage. If you can change somewhere else (Cheltenham, Wolverhampton, Derby or Leamington are all possibles on the XC network and have all been advertised as such in the past), then this will probably be much easier.

And the other thing that I do notice is how noisy the atrium is. There's coffee shops at first floor level on all four sides (eat your heart out, King's Cross and Waterloo!). The curved roof seems to magnify the noise. Perhaps it was just focussing it on where I was standing. I thought that there must be a water feature, but no, it's just people.

Predictably, operations are still the same. I was catching the 13:49 to Worcester. It was shown as going from 11B, so I'm sitting having a coffee in the "red lounge". Then it's shown as going from 11A, so I go down the escalator to 11B and walk all the way along to 11A. The platforms aren't longer than they used to be : it's just that the escalators are further apart. When the train comes in it drives all the way along to 11B, ignoring the waiting passengers customers. So we all walk back again. And then it doesn't open its doors. So, as ever with New Street, I'm fitter and grumpier for my visit.

The multiple gatelines are crazy are they not.  It looks from the map that someone changing trains might have to pass out of the ticketed area and then back into it.  That strikes me as an inconvenience for passengers on a tight connection and a waste of time for ticket inspectors.  Given that BNS is a hugely important station for interchanges and there is space for a better layout this looks to me as if the needs of shoppers have been put ahead of the needs of passengers.  NR has been learning bad habits from Heathrow airport. 

[pedant mode]
Is Barnes really that important?   :P ;) ;D

BHM on the other hand...
[/pedant mode]

I knew BTM for Temple Meads was a faux pas round these parts but honestly!! 

New Street was officially opened by The Queen today:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3325330/Huge-ring-steel-security-operation-Queen-Prince-Philip-arrive-Birmingham-open-750million-station-revamp-complete-John-Lewis.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3325330/Huge-ring-steel-security-operation-Queen-Prince-Philip-arrive-Birmingham-open-750million-station-revamp-complete-John-Lewis.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490)