Restoration work on the 183-year-old original station building at Birmingham Curzon Street has ground to a halt.
HS2 Ltd confirmed to RAIL that the project to incorporate the refurbished terminus as an HS2 visitor centre, with space for catering, exhibitions and offices, has been “temporarily paused” after contractor KN Circet “identified serious unforeseen structural issues” with the Grade 1 Listed building.
An HS2 spokesman explained that the restoration programme sits outside the scope of the £570 million construction programme for Birmingham’s new city centre station, led by a joint venture between Mace and Dragados.
It is therefore being funded by a Housing and Regeneration Grant rather than the budget for HS2 Phase 1. Additional cash is now being sought before the restoration can resume.
“During the current stage of the project, our contractors working on the old Curzon Street station restoration identified serious unforeseen structural issues with the building,” said the spokesman.
“We have temporarily paused the restoration project while we work with our partners and funders to identify heritage funding to fully restore this iconic landmark for the city.”
To read the fuull story, see RAIL 959.
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Güntürk Üstün - 31/05/2022 00:14
Work on HS2 Ltd's Curzon Street station restoration in Birmingham began in September last year, with Midlands contractor KN Circet leading a team of local restoration specialists on the 12-month project to refurbish the historic station building which is one of the world's oldest surviving pieces of monumental railway architecture. It was opened in 1838 as the Birmingham terminus for the London and Birmingham Railway Co line that connected to Euston Station in London. The project so far has presented an exciting challenge for the team which includes local specialists who have traditional skills including carpentry and stonemasonry. Once completed, the refurbished station will be used as an HS2 visitor centre, with flexible facilities for office space, exhibition purposes and catering. Dr. Güntürk Üstün
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