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The new Bus Station that never was.

Gerry Cannell

Gerry Cannell

master brummie
Back in 1970, when I was driving Midland ReD out of Sutton into City, the route took us into Station Street Bus Station...however....cast your mind back to the road underpass that ran round the Town Hall, on the right, between the Hall of Memory and the Town hall, there was an underground Bus Station! But with the coming of 14 feet tall buses ( Volvo Ailsa etc) the roof height was too low, and so it was never used. Does anyone else know about this? Or what it became?
 
Yes I know about this. When I worked at Alpha Tower I was told about it. I never saw any evidence of it, but someone pointed it out to me from the top of Alpha Tower, and was assured it was there underground. I asked a question about it somewhere else on the forum. (Maybe I was loosing my marbles ?!). So thank you Gerry, now I can sleep at night !!
 
Vivienne14 said:
Yes I know about this. When I worked at Alpha Tower I was told about it. I never saw any evidence of it, but someone pointed it out to me from the top of Alpha Tower, and was assured it was there underground. I asked a question about it somewhere else on the forum. (Maybe I was loosing my marbles ?!). So thank you Gerry, now I can sleep at night !!
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Must be just you and I that know about it. One of the Stranger Than Fiction stories of Birmingham. I did walk around it, so know it is/was ? there.
Thanks for the confirmation. Gerry.
 
Vivienne14 said:
I wonder if it was filled in or demolished. It would have been in the very early 1980s that I was told about it.
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It always looked like deserted building site. Hey Vivienne, did you ever notice the other....err....mistake? Alpha Tower? If you look at the base surrounding, you will see it was the Original shape of the tower itself, except it was never put into that surrounding; I was told about it when I worked at ATV. Another....Stranger than fiction piece of Brum !
 
Didn't know that Gerry.

Don't know if I imagined this, but was the 'bus station' used for a while for car parking. I'm not sure if I imagined it and thought it could have been put to good use in this way

When Queen Elizabeth visited in the 1980s, the Royal car travelled around the site, we could see into the glass-roofed car from high up in Alpha Tower. What she wouldn't have realised was that in the couple of weeks before her visit, a workforce of gardeners was busy planting very large established shrubs and trees around the perimeter. Probably to hide the 'unfinished' look of the new buildings backing onto Suffolk Street Queensway. I think most of the plants were removed afterwards. Fletchers Walk was also unfinished for years and years. Was a sad and unattractive place to walk through to get to Alpha Tower.
 
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Vivienne14 said:
Didn't know that Gerry.

Don't know if I imagined this, but was the 'bus station' used for a while for car parking. I'm not sure if I imagined it and thought it could have been put to good use in this way

When Queen Elizabeth visited in the 1980s, the Royal car travelled around the site, we could see into the glass-roofed car from high up in Alpha Tower. What she wouldn't have realised was that in the couple of weeks before her visit, a workforce of gardeners was busy planting very large established shrubs and trees around the perimeter. Probably to hide the 'unfinished' look of the new buildings backing onto Suffolk Street Queensway. I think most of the plants were removed afterwards. Fletchers Walk was also unfinished for years and years. Was a sad and unattractive place to walk through to get to Alpha Tower.
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Yes I do remember how awful it looked; another piece of history that few recall.
 
"Figures showed that passengers did not want to get off at Paradise Circus but wanted to go right into the city centre to New Street or Corporation Street"..... We don't get the option now with the pedestrianisation schemes. I can't walk far so I take the other option - haven't been to the centre for about ten years now, do my shopping locally or online. Their loss, not mine.
 
Lloyd said:
"Figures showed that passengers did not want to get off at Paradise Circus but wanted to go right into the city centre to New Street or Corporation Street"..... We don't get the option now with the pedestrianisation schemes. I can't walk far so I take the other option - haven't been to the centre for about ten years now, do my shopping locally or online. Their loss, not mine.
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Yes, understood, but the actual building was far too low to be able to put a bus of 14 feet high under the ceilings, which were built to accommodate the 12 foot buses. A case of...They got it completely wrong. I too haven't been into that top end of town for some time, so it would be an interesting thing to check out.
 
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