Whilst the opening for New Street has been announced for September, work will inevitably carry on to finish what has been only an improvement to infrastructure and passenger access. Whilst these changes are impressive, train operation is the same as before. The chaos of Monday 3rd August is yet another repeat of a long saga of passenger troubles. Overhead wire problems in the Derby Tunnel led to train delays and cancellations all day. In the days of British Rail a co-ordinated staff response would have reduced these issues to a minimum. With the present arrangement of Network Rail running the station, a security company looking after crowd control, Virgin Trains dealing with customer information and London Midland on the ticket barriers, a disjointed customer service was the result. Accurate information as to services was not always forth-coming, even with the so called technology that provides up to date information to the staff on duty. So people were often left to wander from information screen to information screen to find their service.
On the platforms the new station structure has created even more overhead concrete instead of the less as originally promised. This has led to more diesel fumes being trapped down with the passengers. Not all trains at New Street are electric trains. Cross Country, Arriva, London Midland and Virgin all have diesel stock that use the station. Think of all the noxious particles that diesel engines emit, then think of the long term danger to both the staff and the public.