CfR Visits HS2 At Curzon Street
On 30 June, a group of Campaign for Rail members were welcomed by HS2 for a tour of the largest construction site in Europe. The scale of the new Curzon Street station in Birmingham is awesome. Already, the approach viaducts are built, three for double track and, the right hand one in the photo, is single track. The design had this for the platform with Customs and Passport checking for through trains to Continental Europe. Perhaps one day! (Meanwhile, next to it, a CrossCity service to Lichfield Train is passing).
The visit began with a well illustrated
presentation from Louis. HS2 has its own
website, hs2.org.uk/building-the-railway. There are some interesting videos on HS2’s YouTube
channel too. This part of our visit took
much longer than anticipated as Louis allowed us to ask questions! Then we put on the full PPE kit for a site tour.
The site is so big that walking routes, much of which is ‘carpeted’, includes pelican crossings.
The world’s oldest railway roundhouse, built in 1837, was discovered when preparing the site and stone from it is being preserved.
The seven new platforms are to be at the height of the concrete beams. Underneath will be busy, like St. Pancras International, with escalators up. The site, though, is so long that the land rises up to Moor Street and it will be escalators down to platform level at the buffer stop end. The track from here, at the other end of the platforms, needs to rise over the CrossCity line, and this will include a stretch at 1 in 21!
The first beams are going in to create a route under the station for the West Midlands Metro extension to Digbeth, more or less along where New Canal Street used to be. Tram track is already laid at the Digbeth end and as far as Millennium Point from Corporation Street/Bull Street. When HS2 Curzon Street opens, a new tram stop will be here, under the platforms and the temporary Millennium Point stop will be removed. In the background, centre left, the pink building is the Thinktank, the home of Stanier’s LMS Pacific 46235 City of Birmingham.
For those lucky enough to be part of the visit, it also gave a new perspective on the existing railway. This is a train for Walsall, approaching Proof House Junction. For those unable to come, I recommend a ride from New Street out to Duddeston. Be sure to sit on the left hand side!