HS2 told to 'get on with it' as revised Curzon Street station plans backed amid growing frustration

The proposals for Curzon Street Station, the city centre terminus of the divisive HS2 line, will help to “future proof” the station, according to those behind the plans.

They include a change in material from timber to aluminium within the station roof due to recently tightened fire standards while the eastern concourse has also been replanned.

The plans were considered at a council planning meeting earlier today, May 8, where councillor Gareth Moore (Conservative, Erdington) said he supported the application but expressed frustration at the progress made so far.

“HS2 offers tremendous benefits to Birmingham which we, as a city, should very much welcome,” he said. “To unlock those benefits, we need a station so this application is crucial.”

He continued: “I suppose my only key ask is can we get on with this?

“We need the station and it’s pretty damning that more progress has been made with that infamous bat shed than the actual station that’s needed.”

Councillor David Barker (Labour, Brandwood and Kings Heath) added afterwards: “I agree with that. Happy to approve it, I would like to see the further parts of this project brought forward as soon as possible. I think we just need this done.”

Councillor Lee Marsham (Labour, Nechells), chair of the planning committee, said he thought HS2 was of “great importance” to the city and could be a key part of the tram extension to the proposed new stadium and sports quarter for Birmingham City FC.

A council officer’s report, published ahead of the meeting, added that the revised design of the proposed station building “would still be a world class 21st century landmark building”.

It went on to say that the station would display “high quality architecture”as well as contribute to “maximising the regeneration and development potential” of HS2 in the city centre.

The report also said a combination of factors were involved within the redesign, including value for money, technical complexities, engineering constraints and changes to standards and regulations.

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The redesign plans were ultimately approved by the planning committee this morning.

Construction work on the station began in January last year amid optimism it could provide a huge economic boost and drive investment.

But despite progress being made on the design of Curzon Street, the new CEO of HS2 Ltd recently confirmed that a “reset of the programme” was needed as “serious challenges” continue to plague the project.

This ‘reset’ will involve a review of the project’s cost and schedule.

CEO Mark Wild said recently: “This is of a scale never done before – the last mainline terminus we built was 1899 in Marylebone.

“Truth is also the construction has been harder than we would have thought so we’ve lost ground in construction.

“So a combination of factors of getting a little bit behind and also the complexity to come means we need to reset the programme.”

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“The good news is that this is all completely solvable and I’m very, very confident,” he added. “But you get one chance to reset it to give people confidence.”

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.”

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He continued: “I have said to the government though, before the summer I’ll give them some advice and we aim by the end of this calendar year to have firm advice about the time.

“I hope people are patient – it’s the only time we’ll do it [a programme reset] from now until the end of the job.”

Mr Wild added: “Two things are happening in parallel – peak production and at the same time, parallel to the reset.

“It’s not like we’re sitting on our laurels.”