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/, 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.
