{"id":299990,"date":"2025-07-29T02:01:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T02:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/299990\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T02:01:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T02:01:14","slug":"hs2-update-on-birminghams-old-curzon-street-station-as-repair-plans-lodged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/299990\/","title":{"rendered":"HS2 update on Birmingham’s old Curzon Street Station as ‘repair’ plans lodged"},"content":{"rendered":"

Birmingham’s old Curzon Street Station was the first direct railway line linking Birmingham to London and opened back in 1838\"HS2HS2 development in and around the old Curzon Street Station back in 2021(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n

Repairs could soon be carried out on the old Curzon Street Station building as works on the new HS2 city centre terminus continue.<\/p>\n

The revised design of Birmingham<\/a> \u2019s new high speed railway station, which is set to become a key destination on the divisive HS2<\/a> line, was approved earlier this year in May.<\/p>\n

Construction work on the new Curzon Street Station<\/a> first got under way back in January 2024 amid hope it would help drive a huge economic boost for the city in the coming years.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Birmingham Council addresses fears over market\u2019s future as funding for major project agreed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

As the station takes shape in the city centre<\/a>, HS2 has now provided an update on the old station building nearby – but it still remains unclear what its future use could entail.<\/p>\n

Opened back in 1838, the station was the first direct railway line linking Birmingham to London and has been described as one of the world\u2019s oldest surviving pieces of monumental railway architecture.<\/p>\n

Plans were recently lodged for a number of works on the old station, including \u2018remedial repairs\u2019 to the external walls, repairs to external windows and doors, and the installation of new lightning conductor.<\/p>\n

There are also proposals for ‘internal works’ which would involve the installation of a fire door, emergency lighting system and fire alarm system.<\/p>\n

A HS2 spokesperson said on Monday, July 28 that a planning application was put forward for a \u201cpackage of external remedial repairs\u201d to the old Curzon Street Station.<\/p>\n

\"HS2HS2 Curzon Street station in Birmingham(Image: andrewhendry.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe works are required to safeguard the Grade I Listed heritage building and we have been working with officers at Birmingham City Council<\/a> (BCC) and Historic England on the proposals,\u201d they continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cSubject to approvals, repair work will be carried out on the external parapets and stonework including repointing and regrouting, along with replacing the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

They did not comment on what the old station could be used for in the future but a HS2 spokesperson said last year: \u201cWe believe it\u2019s fitting to integrate the old with the new to reflect the evolution of railway infrastructure in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working with Birmingham City Council and other partners to identify a strategy to complete the work required to restore this iconic landmark for future use.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Can we get on with this?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposals for the new Curzon Street Station will help to \u201cfuture proof\u201d the station, those behind the plans previously said.<\/p>\n

They included a change in material from timber to aluminium within the station roof due to recently tightened fire standards while the eastern concourse has also been replanned.<\/p>\n

The plans were considered at a council planning meeting in May this year where councillor Gareth Moore said he supported the application but expressed frustration at the progress made so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cHS2 offers tremendous benefits to Birmingham which we, as a city, should very much welcome,\u201d he said. \u201cTo unlock those benefits, we need a station so this application is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cI suppose my only key ask is can we get on with this?<\/p>\n

\"AA visualisation of Birmingham’s HS2 Curzon Street Station at night(Image: HS2)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the station and it\u2019s pretty damning that more progress has been made with that infamous bat shed than the actual station that\u2019s needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councillor Lee Marsham, chair of the planning committee, said he thought HS2 was of \u201cgreat importance\u201d to the city and could be a key part of the tram extension to the proposed new stadium and sports quarter for Birmingham City FC.<\/p>\n

A council officer\u2019s report, published ahead of the meeting, added that the revised design of the proposed station building \u201cwould still be a world class 21st century landmark building\u201d.<\/p>\n

It went on to say it would contribute to \u201cmaximising the regeneration and development potential\u201d of HS2 in the city centre.<\/p>\n

But despite progress being made on the design of Curzon Street, the CEO of HS2 Ltd confirmed earlier this year that a \u201creset of the programme\u201d was needed amid \u201cserious challenges\u201d plaguing the project.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>New one way streets for Birmingham suburb as divisive traffic scheme enters second phase<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This \u2018reset\u2019 involves a review of the project\u2019s cost and schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is of a scale never done before \u2013 the last mainline terminus we built was 1899 in Marylebone,\u201d CEO Mark Wild said this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cTruth is also the construction has been harder than we would have thought so we\u2019ve lost ground in construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo a combination of factors of getting a little bit behind and also the complexity to come means we need to reset the programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope people are patient \u2013 it\u2019s the only time we\u2019ll do it [a programme reset] from now until the end of the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MarkMark Wild, the CEO of HS2 Ltd, at the Curzon Street construction site on April 3(Image: Alexander Brock)<\/p>\n

Mr Wild added: \u201cTwo things are happening in parallel – peak production and at the same time, parallel to the reset.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like we\u2019re sitting on our laurels.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birmingham’s old Curzon Street Station was the first direct railway line linking Birmingham to London and opened back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,983,984,748,393,4884,29350,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-299990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city-centre","10":"tag-birmingham-city-council","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-hs2","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114934060692251607","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}