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| Birmingham New Street station: Concourse opening | Birmingham New Street station: Concourse opening |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| A new concourse has opened to passengers as part of a £600m redevelopment of New Street station. | |
| Three new entrances, off Stephenson Street, off Hill Street and escalators from the Pallasades shopping centre, will open at Birmingham's main station. | Three new entrances, off Stephenson Street, off Hill Street and escalators from the Pallasades shopping centre, will open at Birmingham's main station. |
| Cars will use a new entrance off Hill Street, instead of entering via Smallbrook Queensway. | Cars will use a new entrance off Hill Street, instead of entering via Smallbrook Queensway. |
| The changes will allow the old station and all of its existing entrances to close for redevelopment. | The changes will allow the old station and all of its existing entrances to close for redevelopment. |
| The half of the new concourse is more than one-and-a-half times larger than the previous one and when the station revamp is completed in 2015, the finished concourse will be three-and-a-half times bigger than the one it replaces. | |
| 'Key milestone' | 'Key milestone' |
| The completion of the project in 2015 will leave the station with more than 30 new escalators and 15 new public lifts, with about half of these opening on Sunday. | The completion of the project in 2015 will leave the station with more than 30 new escalators and 15 new public lifts, with about half of these opening on Sunday. |
| The existing Navigation Street footbridge has closed, so passengers using the Stephenson Street entrance will access to the platforms via the new concourse instead. | The existing Navigation Street footbridge has closed, so passengers using the Stephenson Street entrance will access to the platforms via the new concourse instead. |
| People travelling from Moor Street station and pedestrians on Smallbrook Queensway will now be able to reach the new concourse via the new Moor Street link pedestrian walkway, which links the east side of the station to the new entrance on Stephenson Street. | People travelling from Moor Street station and pedestrians on Smallbrook Queensway will now be able to reach the new concourse via the new Moor Street link pedestrian walkway, which links the east side of the station to the new entrance on Stephenson Street. |
| The station taxi rank will temporarily move to Navigation Street. | The station taxi rank will temporarily move to Navigation Street. |
| Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "The opening of the western concourse is a key milestone for the New Street project and gives the public a real view of how the redevelopment is progressing." | Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "The opening of the western concourse is a key milestone for the New Street project and gives the public a real view of how the redevelopment is progressing." |
| City council leader Sir Albert Bore said: "It has been a tremendous feat of engineering and logistics to keep one half of New Street station operating pretty much as normal for passengers travelling in and out of the city." | City council leader Sir Albert Bore said: "It has been a tremendous feat of engineering and logistics to keep one half of New Street station operating pretty much as normal for passengers travelling in and out of the city." |