Visiting HS2’s Curzon Street station site
- Strategic Planning team shown around Curzon Street station site in Birmingham
- The new station will be integrated with the adjacent city centre, and other public transport links
- The team also saw the many systems and transport interfaces required to maximise the value from HS2
A big thank you to HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd for hosting our Strategic Planning team recently on a visit to its Curzon Street station site in Birmingham.
The team were shown around the site and were able to get a good overview of the work planned for Curzon Street now that the site has been cleared. The new station will be integrated with the adjacent city centre, and other public transport links, including the planned West Midlands Metro extension that will serve the station.
It was already evident that there is a lot of commercial development in the vicinity, including new high rises under construction – showing how rail can boost urban revitalisation and address levelling up. The site tour also highlighted the challenges of delivering a major construction site in a city centre, as well as how to mitigate the impacts of construction on local business and residents, which understandably includes extensive engagement work with the local community.
We also heard about the many systems and transport interfaces that are required to maximise the value from HS2 when it becomes operational, on both the new high speed route as well as on the existing rail network.
As we develop our long-term strategy for rail, we have been meeting with stakeholders to deepen our understanding of land and spatial plans throughout the UK to help us unlock the full economic, social and environmental potential of rail.