Birmingham's Eastside plans must change to accommodate high speed rail

Mar 11 2010 by Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Post

Birmingham’s new £235 million high speed railway station will form part of a £30 billion national network, Gordon Brown has announced.

The Government went further than expected by confirming that the new line, running at up to 250 mph, line will extend north in two directions, to Liverpool and Manchester in the North-west as well as Leeds and Sheffield in the North-east.

Initially, Ministers had confirmed only a London to Birmingham route, saying other options would be examined later.

The Prime Minister said it was “a great day for Birmingham and the Midlands” as he visited the city to see the planned site of the new six-platform station, in the Eastside area of the city centre.

It will incorporate the iconic century Curzon Street rail terminus which was built in 1837, a detailed report published by the Government confirmed.

And the region will also get a second new station - with an interchange close to the NEC, connected to the existing Birmingham International Station.

Journey times between central Birmingham and London will be cut to just 49 minutes, from one hour 24 minutes today, with trains running at 250 mph.

Putting Birmingham within easy commuting distance of the great cities of the north and London is expected to provide a huge economic boost - and could create up to 60,000 new jobs.

And the new line also means extra local services can be created, by freeing up space on the existing West Coast Main Line, which is used for conventional services to London.

The city centre station will be called Birmingham Curzon Street and run roughly from the site of the old Curzon Street Station, which is currently unused, to Fazeley Street.