Birmingham New Street(BHM)
About Birmingham New Street
Birmingham New Street, often called New Street station, is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre. It serves as a central hub of the national rail network, providing major connections through Avanti West Coast services to destinations such as London, Preston, Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as West Midlands Trains services linking Liverpool and London via the West Coast Main Line. The CrossCountry network is based at New Street, and the station also handles a wide range of local and suburban services, including the Cross-City Line between Lichfield, Redditch and Bromsgrove, and the Chase Line towards Walsall and Rugeley. Its three-letter station code is BHM.
The station takes its name from New Street, which runs alongside it, though it has never had a direct entrance from the street itself except through the Grand Central shopping centre. Historically, the primary entrance was on Stephenson Street, close to New Street. Today, passengers can access the station via entrances on Stephenson Street, Smallbrook Queensway, Hill Street and Navigation Street.
New Street is the thirteenth busiest railway station in the United Kingdom and the busiest outside London, with 35.3 million passenger entries and exits recorded between April 2023 and March 2024. It is also the most used interchange station outside London, with more than 5 million passengers transferring between services each year. In 2018, passenger surveys reported a satisfaction rating of 92%, ranking it among the highest in the country.
The original station opened in 1854 and, at the time, featured the largest single-span arched roof in the world. In the 1960s, the station was completely rebuilt, but the new enclosed design, with buildings covering most of its span, struggled to cope with passenger numbers more than double what it was built for, leaving it unpopular with travellers. A major £550 million redevelopment, known as Gateway Plus, was completed in 2015. This project transformed the station with a new concourse, modern exterior façade and an additional entrance on Stephenson Street.
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History
The story of Birmingham New Street began in the mid-19th century. Around 1846, plans were set in motion to create a new central station, replacing several smaller and less convenient railway termini. Designed by Edward Alfred Cowper—who had worked on the Crystal Palace—and constructed by Fox, Henderson & Co, the station featured a vast single-span arched roof, the largest of its kind at the time. The new station opened informally in 1851 and was officially inaugurated on 1 June 1854, coinciding with the opening of the nearby Queen’s Hotel. This new facility swiftly became the city’s principal passenger hub, eclipsing the older Curzon Street station.
As rail traffic boomed, the station underwent a significant expansion. In 1885, an extension designed by Francis Stevenson almost doubled the station’s footprint, adding more platforms and integrating Great Queen Street (Queen’s Drive) through the concourse. This expansion elevated New Street to become the largest station in the country at that point. The early decades of the 20th century saw further growth, notably a westward extension of the Queen’s Hotel in 1917 to accommodate increasing passenger demand.
During World War II, the station sustained heavy bomb damage, necessitating substantial repairs including roof replacement and footbridge remodelling. However, by the 1950s, it became clear that a longer-term modernisation was needed. Consequently, the original station and Queen’s Hotel were demolished in 1964. In 1967, a new, more enclosed structure opened—designed by Kenneth J. Davies—featuring a concrete deck above the platforms and supporting development of the Pallasades Shopping Centre atop it. This rebuild coincided with the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.
Despite being functional, the station’s 1960s design received widespread criticism for its unattractive brutalist appearance and cramped, gloomy environment. Indeed, it was later dubbed one of the UK’s ugliest buildings. In response, a comprehensive redevelopment—known as the Gateway or Gateway Plus project—was launched in 2010. Completed in 2015, the transformation featured a dramatic new concourse three to three-and-a-half times larger than before, topped with a light-filled atrium, a revamped exterior, and improved access via lifts and escalators. The Pallasades Shopping Centre was rebranded as Grand Central, with new retail offerings including a flagship John Lewis store.
Today, New Street station stands as a modern, vibrant gateway to Birmingham, marrying historical legacy with contemporary design. It continues to handle significantly more traffic than ever initially anticipated, with the redesigned concourse offering light, spaciousness and enhanced passenger experience—marking it as one of the most important regeneration projects in the region.
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