Birmingham HS2's revised station plans approved

Plans for the revised design of Birmingham's flagship HS2 railway station have been approved.

Changes to Curzon Street Station's development include a change from timber to aluminium in the roof because of more stringent fire safety standards, while the eastern concourse has also been re-planned.

A combination of factors were involved with the modifications, including value for money, technical complexities and engineering constraints, a city council officer's report said.

Redesign plans were approved by the planning committee after considering the report.

The station would display "high quality architecture", the report said.

Chair of the planning committee Labour councillor Lee Marsham, who represents Nechells, said he thought HS2 could be a key part of the tram extension to the proposed new stadium and sports quarter for Birmingham City FC.

Erdington Conservative councillor Gareth Moore said he supported the application, but expressed frustration at progress made so far.

He stated: "I suppose my only key ask is, 'Can we get on with this?'."

Labour councillor David Barker, who represents Brandwood and Kings Heath, said: "Happy to approve it. I would like to see the further parts of this project brought forward as soon as possible."

Construction work on the station began in January last year.

But despite progress being made on the design, new HS2 Ltd CEO Mark Wild recently confirmed a "reset of the programme" was needed, including a review of the project's cost and schedule.

Mr Wild recently said construction had been "harder than we would have thought".

"So a combination of factors of getting a little bit behind and also the complexity to come means we need to reset the programme," he explained.

"The good news is that this is all completely solvable and I'm very, very confident."

Asked whether the aim was for trains to run between 2029 and 2033, as previously suggested, Mr Wild responded: "We're so far into the civil engineering now, it's time to reset – as frustrating as it is, that will take me the rest of this year to do.

"Standing here, I don't really have an answer – I'm just going to do the work.

"We aim by the end of this calendar year to have firm advice about the time".

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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