2019

SP0787 : HS2 – Curzon Street station site, Eastside Birmingham (3)

taken 5 years ago, near to Birmingham, England

HS2 – Curzon Street station site, Eastside Birmingham (3)
HS2 – Curzon Street station site, Eastside Birmingham (3)
The site in its groundworks phase shows shipping containers and stacked materials SP0787 : Stacks, HS2 Curzon Street station site, Eastside, Birmingham (photographed from the New Canal Street gates, seen centre right). The site is overlooked by Masshouse Plaza flats, left, university buildings, and the ThinkTank, right. The photograph was taken from a Cross City Line train on the bridge crossing New Canal Street and Fazeley Street SP0786 : HS2 site, Eastside, Birmingham – closed section of Fazeley Street.
HS2 in and around Birmingham

HS2 is the second high-speed rail line in Great Britain, between London and Birmingham and beyond. In 2019 the site of the Birmingham terminus, Curzon Street Station, has been fenced and works have begun.

The huge Curzon Street site, long-vacant, has been home to railway stations before. In the 1830s railway companies had built lines from Liverpool, Derby and Gloucester into Birmingham, each with its own terminus. Not until 1838 did the London and Birmingham Railway open Curzon Street station to receive its trains from Euston. It soon became an interchange station although disadvantaged by its distance from the heart of the town. In the 1840s new companies competed to introduce new routes, particularly north-south and northeast-southwest services via Birmingham.

"A significant proportion of Birmingham's railway network dates from this time. With this certainty came two realisations: first, that a good and convenient railway system was the key to prosperity, and second, that Birmingham deserved something far better than having its stations tucked away on the periphery. A bold plan was therefore evolved [by the newly-formed London and North Western Railway Company (L&NWR) supported by the town's Street Commissioners] to create a 'grand central station'". They and the other companies extended and connected their lines into the new station which opened in 1854 as Birmingham New Street. It was an immediate success as services were diverted to it; Curzon Street closed to regular passenger trains within a month but its goods yard developed massively in subsequent years.

to be continued

Further reading: Richard Foster. Birmingham New Street, the story of a great station including Curzon Street (4 volumes). 1: Background and Beginnings, the years up to 1860. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications, 1990. ISBN 0 906867 78 9


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Robin Stott and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Lowlands City, Town centre Railways Construction, Development Place: Birmingham Postcode District: B4 Area: Eastside Former: Railway Station other tags: HS2 Station Site Groundworks Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
+
+
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
TIP: Click the map for more Large scale mapping
Grid Square
SP0787, 944 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Robin Stott   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 24 August, 2019   (more nearby)
Submitted
Wednesday, 4 September, 2019
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SP 0771 8700 [10m precision]
WGS84: 52:28.8523N 1:53.2742W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SP 0774 8692
View Direction
North-northwest (about 337 degrees)
Clickable map
+
NW N NE
W Go E
SW S SE
Image Type (about): cross grid 
This page has been viewed about 88 times
You are not logged in login | register