Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in the Birmingham City Centre, England. It is a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Virgin Trains services from London Euston, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via the West Coast Main Line, and the national hub of the CrossCountry network – the most extensive in Britain, with long-distance trains serving destinations from Aberdeen to Penzance. It is also a major hub for local and suburban services within the West Midlands, including those on the Cross City Line between Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch and the Chase Line to Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley.
The station is named after New Street, which runs parallel to the station, although the station has never had a direct entrance to New Street except via the Grand Central shopping centre. Historically the main entrance to the station was on Stephenson Street, just off New Street. Today the station has entrances on Stephenson Street, Smallbrook Queensway, Hill Street and Navigation Street.
New Street is the sixth busiest railway station in the UK and the busiest outside London, with 42 million passenger entries and exits between April 2016 and March 2017.It is also the busiest interchange station outside London, with nearly 5.8 million passengers changing trains at the station annually.
The original New Street station opened in 1854. At the time of its construction, the station had the largest single-span arched roof in the world, In the 1960s, the station was completely rebuilt. An enclosed station, with buildings over most of its span and passenger numbers more than twice those it was designed for, the replacement was not popular with its users. A £550m redevelopment of the station named Gateway Plus opened in September 2015. It includes a new concourse, a new exterior facade, and a new entrance on Stephenson Street.
Around 80% of train services to Birmingham go through New Street. The other major city-centre stations in Birmingham are Birmingham Moor Street and Birmingham Snow Hill. Outside Birmingham, in Solihull, is Birmingham International, which serves Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre.
Since 30 May 2016, New Street has been served by the Midland Metro tram line, when the adjacent Grand Central tram stop opened outside the station's main entrance on Stephenson Street as the new terminus of Line 1, following the opening of the city-centre extension from Birmingham Snow Hill.