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HS2 progress 2020 and beyond

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Before the turntable.

View from the train towards Millennium Point.



Towards the Birmingham City University Eastside Campus. This was the site of the short lived student accommodation Curzon Gate.



This was just before crossing Lawley Middleway.

About to pass the current West Midlands Fire Service HQ. Will it have to move again?



They moved this sign to this location. It was previously near Curzon Street Station. The Digbeth Branch Canal is to the left.

 
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I had hoped to get something from the train home tonight (on the London line) but too much spoil blocking the view
 
HS2 shuttle project...

This is for the HS2 station out by the airport in Solihull.

The HS2 station in Solihull will be quite a distance East from the NEC, Birmingham Airport and the existing Birmingham International train station.

So it will need this long shuttle to move people back and forth between those various sites.
 
fascinating finds pedro.. to my mind the only good things to come out out the HS2 developement

lyn
 
Just over a week OK I went up to Birmingham taking photos all over the city centre.

One set of photos I took was around the new HS2 station site where a large amount of work is going on.

This is a HUGE site, running from Moor Street Queensway, alongside Moor St station, right out to the Lawley Middleway Ring Road.

Here is an aerial photo I captured from Google maps showing the extent of the site.

Bottom left you can see Moor Street station, and along the centre of the photo (and along the bottom of the HS2 station site) you can see the train line that runs in to New Street station (going UNDER Moor St station).

The far right of the photo is Lawley Middleway, and along the top of the HS2 station site runs Curzon Street.

00 HS2 Aerial.JPG

I have posted 10 photos below,, and to help people understand where I have taken the photos from here is the same map above, but now with numbers 1 to 10 on it showing where I stood to take the photo, and the direction I was pointing.

Arrows HS2 Aerial.jpg

Below, here is photo 1. Taken from Moor Street Queensway looking roughly East all along the length of the HS2 station site.

This was a hard photo to take as most of the site is surrounded by a high wall, I had to stand on something to give me enough height to take the photo. You can see the old Curzon Street station in the distance

01 IMG_4583.JPG

Below, here is photo 2. Again taken from Moor Street Queensway looking roughly East but I have zoomed in to get more of the site. You can see the old Curzon St station more clearly here.

02 IMG_4588.JPG

Below, here is photo 3, taken from Park Street looking roughly South.

As you can see, Park St is now permanently closed off. This road has been used for many people to get in to the the city centre but now traffic has to go on to Moor Street Queensway to get towards the Digbeth area.

03 IMG_4462.JPG

Below, here is photo 4, taken from New Canal Street (the Curzon Street station is behind me and the Woodman pub to my right) looking towards the city centre.

As you can see the site is surrounded by high hoardings so it is very difficult to get photos of the HS2 Station site.

04 IMG_4475.JPG

Below here is photo 5. Having said about the last photo it is hard to take photos of the site, here is a photo I took again on New Canal Street but through a hole in a metal gate.

Here you can see much of the "front" of the HS2 station site, the part that will be near Moor Street station.

05 IMG_4480.JPG

Below, here is photo 6. This is taken on New Canal Street, where Fazeley Street crosses it.

There is a lot of "HS2 Enabling" work going on in this area so as you can see New Canal Street was blocked off in this area.

06 IMG_4483.JPG

Below, here is photo 7. This is Fazeley Street where the canal goes under the road (near the old Typhoo Works).

Again you can see this road is blocked off for more "HS2 Enabling" works. As you can imagine these roads closures are causing some confusion for local traffic.

07 IMG_4495.JPG

Below, here is photo 8. This is Banbury Street (the Gun Barrell Proof house is behind me) looking towards the city centre.

The HS2 station will be to my right, and ahead of me (and probably above me!)

The Eagle and Tun pub is at the end of the road on the left (with the chimney).

08 IMG_4498.JPG

Below, here is photo 9. Again in Banbury Street, a close up of the Eagle and Tun pub.

I could not get a photo from the "front" of the pub as the low sun was shining right in to my camera lens.

09 IMG_4501.JPG

Below, here is photo 10 (last photo). This is the Woodman pub.

As you can see, more work going on around the pub. I think this was BT (Openreach) laying high speed broadband cables, I assume for use by the HS2 station at a later date.

If you look to the left of the pub you can see down New Canal Street and you can see the amount of work going on with cones and barriers everywhere.

10 IMG_4504.JPG

So hopefully with the photos I have taken you can get some idea of the huge amount of work going on to build this HS2 station.

I know there are anti HS2 people around but in the long term this must be good for Birmingham.

My daughter and her boyfriend have just come back from over a year in the Far East (Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan etc) and all these countries have got High Speed trains.

Most European countries have got far more High Speed train track than the UK. If we don't do things like this we are in danger of being left behind, particularly with the anti-air travel protests likely to increase in the coming years.
 
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thanks guilbert...i have to be honest and say that because so many old buildings have now gone i can only pick out moor st station and maybe the rotunda...is the old park st burial ground in your photo??
 
If Guilbert gets a train on the Cross City or Chase or West Coast Mainlines, he could get views like this.

20th August 2020 on a Class 350 train I got from Stechford to Birmingham New Street (one train an hour, and it was delayed).

Turntable.



Curzon Street Station.



New Canal Street closed off.




Also if he got a bus on the top deck leaving Moor Street Queensway he might be able to get it over the fences.
 
Just over a week OK I went up to Birmingham taking photos all over the city centre.

One set of photos I took was around the new HS2 station site where a large amount of work is going on.

This is a HUGE site, running from Moor Street Queensway, alongside Moor St station, right out to the Lawley Middleway Ring Road.

Here is an aerial photo I captured from Google maps showing the extent of the site.

Bottom left you can see Moor Street station, and along the centre of the photo (and along the bottom of the HS2 station site) you can see the train line that runs in to New Street station (going UNDER Moor St station).

The far right of the photo is Lawley Middleway, and along the top of the HS2 station site runs Curzon Street.

View attachment 147963

I have posted 10 photos below,, and to help people understand where I have taken the photos from here is the same map above, but now with numbers 1 to 10 on it showing where I stood to take the photo, and the direction I was pointing.

View attachment 147964

Below, here is photo 1. Taken from Moor Street Queensway looking roughly East all along the length of the HS2 station site.

This was a hard photo to take as most of the site is surrounded by a high wall, I had to stand on something to give me enough height to take the photo. You can see the old Curzon Street station in the distance

View attachment 147965

Below, here is photo 2. Again taken from Moor Street Queensway looking roughly East but I have zoomed in to get more of the site. You can see the old Curzon St station more clearly here.

View attachment 147966

Below, here is photo 3, taken from Park Street looking roughly South.

As you can see, Park St is now permanently closed off. This road has been used for many people to get in to the the city centre but now traffic has to go on to Moor Street Queensway to get towards the Digbeth area.

View attachment 147967

Below, here is photo 4, taken from New Canal Street (the Curzon Street station is behind me and the Woodman pub to my right) looking towards the city centre.

As you can see the site is surrounded by high hoardings so it is very difficult to get photos of the HS2 Station site.

View attachment 147968

Below here is photo 5. Having said about the last photo it is hard to take photos of the site, here is a photo I took again on New Canal Street but through a hole in a metal gate.

Here you can see much of the "front" of the HS2 station site, the part that will be near Moor Street station.

View attachment 147969

Below, here is photo 6. This is taken on New Canal Street, where Fazeley Street crosses it.

There is a lot of "HS2 Enabling" work going on in this area so as you can see New Canal Street was blocked off in this area.

View attachment 147970

Below, here is photo 7. This is Fazeley Street where the canal goes under the road (near the old Typhoo Works).

Again you can see this road is blocked off for more "HS2 Enabling" works. As you can imagine these roads closures are causing some confusion for local traffic.

View attachment 147971

Below, here is photo 8. This is Banbury Street (the Gun Barrell Proof house is behind me) looking towards the city centre.

The HS2 station will be to my right, and ahead of me (and probably above me!)

The Eagle and Tun pub is at the end of the road on the left (with the chimney).

View attachment 147972

Below, here is photo 9. Again in Banbury Street, a close up of the Eagle and Tun pub.

I could not get a photo from the "front" of the pub as the low sun was shining right in to my camera lens.

View attachment 147973

Below, here is photo 10 (last photo). This is the Woodman pub.

As you can see, more work going on around the pub. I think this was BT (Openreach) laying high speed broadband cables, I assume for use by the HS2 station at a later date.

If you look to the left of the pub you can see down New Canal Street and you can see the amount of work going on with cones and barriers everywhere.

View attachment 147974

So hopefully with the photos I have taken you can get some idea of the huge amount of work going on to build this HS2 station.

I know there are anti HS2 people around but in the long term this must be good for Birmingham.

My daughter and her boyfriend have just come back from over a year in the Far East (Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan etc) and all these countries have got High Speed trains.

Most European countries have got far more High Speed train track than the UK. If we don't do things like this we are in danger of being left behind, particularly with the anti-air travel protests likely to increase in the coming years.
A great set of pics. Thanks for taking the trouble to go into Brum and capture the changes. Come on Hs2, drag us into the 21st century.
 
I had a look at the River Cole post, but it seems to be concerned more with ecology and creation of walks at this junction.

The water powered Forge Mill was on the opposite of the BR Line
 
This is slightly off topic but I have just been watching this interesting 7 minute film about the work going on in New York city on their most costly rail project to date...this seemed the most appropriate thread to post on.
 
This is slightly off topic but I have just been watching this interesting 7 minute film about the work going on in New York city on their most costly rail project to date...this seemed the most appropriate thread to post on.
Great video, thank you A Sparks!

What is going on in NYC these days, the great exodus. With people and businesses leaving. Not sure how well used, all those rails will be!
 
We came through Water Orton the other day - line goes right through the site of the old school which has now been re-built.
 
Restoration of Curzon St station...

good news..but of course the city could have had more than this jewel in the crown if a little more thought was given over the years spent of totally ridding us so many historical buildings

lyn
 
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good news..but of course the city could have had more than this jewel in the crown if a little more thought was given over the years spent of totally ridding us so many historical buildings

lyn
Luckily, they 'hadn't got round' to Curzon Street Station by the time the HS2 intention was announced.
 
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