Birmingham New Street Station

London North Western Railway:

Midland Railway:

Stratford Midland Junction Railway

The Shakespeare Route

Birmingham New Street Station

The complex of three stations located at or near to Curzon Street station - being the termini of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR), the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway (B&DJR) and the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway (B&GR) - was very quickly overwhelmed by the increasing amount of railway traffic as Birmingham became an important hub for industry and commerce. The enormous impact of the railways can be measured by the fact that during the decade after their arrival, Birmingham's population increased to over 140,000, and by the 1860s the figure had rocketed to more than a quarter of a million. The station was also inconveniently situated at the fringes of the growing town (Birmingham was not awarded city status until 1889 a half century after the arrival of the railways) and it was decided that what was required was a station which was not only large enough but also grand enough to reflect the town's importance. It should be noted that after the opening of New Street station in 1854, Curzon Street was still used initially for a brief time by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) for some local services and for a longer period, for excursion traffic too.

The original station was, for a short period of time, termed 'Navigation Street' and even 'Grand Central Station', only assuming the title 'New Street' with the opening of Stephenson Place. The latter becoming a short cut to both the station and Queen's Hotel from New Street thoroughfare, some 60 yards distant. Whilst the internal layout of the new station was planned by Robert Stephenson and his assistants, the external buildings and those on the frontage were designed by the architect JW Livock. The single arched train shed which covered most of the station, designed by Edward Alfred Cowper who had previously worked on the design of the Crystal Palace, was built using 115 tons of glass and 1400 tons of iron sheeting in the domed part alone. Described as a crescent-trust roof, the roof had thirty-six trusses, each weighing forty-five tons. The elegant roof was later marred when it was reinforced with additional numerous steel tie bars after the collapse of a smaller roof at Charing Cross station in 1905. The major part of the ironwork was supplied and erected by Messrs Fox, Henderson & Company of London Works in Smethwick, this being one of their last contracts before they went into liquidation in 1853.

When it was completed the station had, until the opening of St Pancras in 1868, the largest single span arched roof in the world, being 212ft wide and 840ft long. The trainshed covered four through platforms and four turntable roads for marshalling trains (in addition to the locomotive turntable there were eventually twenty-six small turntables located throughout the station). Because of the station's large size and location in the centre of the city a footbridge was built to provide public access from one side of Birmingham to the other. New Street station was initially opened to passengers in 1851 and went on to be officially opened in a low key manner on 1st June 1854. The Queen's Hotel, which formed one side of the station, was also opened on 1st June 1854 being designed to meet passenger demand for accommodation in the city centre. It too was designed by William Livock and was a four storey building with an original sixty rooms in a plain, Italianate style which gave New Street its general appearance.

It is often wrongly stated that New Street station was jointly operated by the LNWR and the Midland Railway (MR). Up to 1897 the station was in fact owned and operated by the LNWR, when a joint tenancy was established between the two companies. Prior to this date the MR was only granted running rights because it had inherited the running rights previously granted to two of its former constituent companies; the B&DJR and the B&GR. Even when the 1885 extension first opened, this side of New Street station was not solely dedicated to the MR's services being also used initially by the LNWR for some local suburban services. However, the two sections of the station located on either side of Queens Drive were quickly to become dedicated to each company's services. From the 1897 joint tenancy until 1923, when both companies became part of the London Midland Scottish Railway, each company appointed for a period of twelve months either an overall manager or station superintendent supported by a joint committee with equal representation for both companies. Hence all five signal cabins were built to LNWR designs and staffed by LNWR personnel. The MR was compelled to pay a contribution towards the operating costs for its use of the station.

The Midland Extension, as it was termed in an official MR guide to New Street published in 1884, opened on 8th February 1885 when the first platform came into use. By October of the same year the full working pattern had been established with north-east to south-west expresses entirely diverted to the extension. The total area of the combined station was fourteen and half acres with eight acres being with the two train sheds. The Midland Extension was reported to have cost half a million pounds. The extension required much remodelling of the surrounding streets. Some, such as Queen Street disappeared whilst others, such as the meandering Great Queen Street, were realigned, the latter being converted to a broad, straight carriage drive. At least one undated drawing drawing held in Network Rail's archives, shows the carriage way of the proposed combined station retaining the name Great Queen Street, whereas others published shortly after opening confirm the name as Queens Drive. The extension was notable in that its platforms were curved reflecting the authorities desire to limit the purchase costs of land to the minimum.