New Street Station February Update II

Here is a further update on the New Street Station redevelopment, following my preceding update New Street Station February Update, showing work from 9 February 2013 with the steel cladding continuing to extend further along Stephenson Street.

Stephenson Street steel cladding.

New concourse retail units.  Looking at the plan, partially reproduced below from http://www.grandcentralbirmingham.com/layout-plans/concourse-level.aspx, these glass units look to be units 10, 11 and 12.  View from Stephenson Street looking in towards the new concourse. 

New corner entrance.

New public square fronting the station.

Preparation ahead of the current concourse and short stay car park's conversion to concourse and retail units.

Steelwork and cores for the new John Lewis store.

Network Rail in co-operation with RNIB are offering guided orientation tours of Phase One to blind and partially sighted people before it opens to the public in April to allow people to get to know the layout, http://www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/campaignwithus/england/westmidlands/Pages/New_Street_Orientation_Tours.aspx

The following information is reproduced from RNIB regarding the changes in April.

The current entrance for the station will close. This is the main entrance to the station on Smallbrook Queensway next to TK Maxx and opposite the Bullring.
The back entrance to New Street Station which is currently on Navigation Street will also close.

From April 2013 you will no longer be able to use these entrances.
The escalators that go from the Pallasades down to the current concourse of New Street Station opposite the ticket barriers will also be closed.

The new main entrance to the station will be on Stephenson Street, opposite Lower Temple Street and near to the Coffee Lounge and the Piccadilly Arcade.

There will also be another entrance to the Station on Hill Street next to the entrance to the Pallasades Car Park, which is currently closed for refurbishment. The new John Lewis department store will be to the right of the entrance when the development is finished in 2015. This will be under construction until Autumn 2014.

You will also be able to get to the new main station entrance on Stephenson Street from the current entrance on Smallbrook Queensway by using what will be called the ‘Moor Street Link’. The link will start just off Smallbrook Queensway, just past New Street Station where the tourism centre is. You will be able to walk along the link through to Stephenson Street. Once you are at Stephenson Street, you will be able to walk along the colonnade to the new station entrance.

You will also be able to enter the new station from the Pallasades shopping centre using the new escalators. The entrance to the new escalators will be to the right of Tesco in the Pallasades as you are facing it. The entrance will take you into a well-lit short hoarded tunnel which will lead you to the new escalators and down in to the new station concourse.

The ramp from New Street into the Pallasades will remain open. You will be able to use the ramp to get in to the station. You will be able to walk straight up the ramp, forward in to the Pallasades until you reach Tesco and then turn right for the entrance to the new escalators.

The new vehicle drop off point will be on Hill Street at the new entrance there. Taxis and other vehicles will be able to drop passengers in the the Drop and Go area which can be accessed from Hill Street. You won't be able to be dropped off at the Stephenson Street entrance.

The new taxi rank will be on Navigation Street just along to the left of the new station entrance.

We won’t unveil the atrium until the end of the project in 2015, the first half of the station we open in April 2013 and will have all the facilities you expect, plus new lifts and escalators to every platform to improve access.

http://www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/campaignwithus/Documents/New_Street_Redevelopment_Leaflet.doc