20250305_162037
The grade two listed New Street PSB.
History:
Opened on July 3, 1966
Closed on December 24, 2022
Designed by architects Paul Hamilton and John Bicknell
Birmingham New Street Signal Box is situated on the corner of Brunel and Navigation Streets and at the west end of the platforms of Birmingham New Street railway station.
Opened on 3 July 1966, the brutalist structure is a grade II listed building for its architectural value and a prominent city centre landmark. It closed on 24 December 2022.
The box was designed by Bicknell and Hamilton (an architectural practice led by John Bicknell and Paul Hamilton) in collaboration with Ray Moorcroft, British Rail's regional architect for the London Midland region. An example of brutalist architecture, it was built from 1964 to 1966 as part of the remodelling of New Street station.
The construction of the signal box and the remodelling of the station were part of the West Coast Main Line route modernisation, which included overhead electrification of the entire route. The box was one of four power signal boxes in the West Midlands which replaced 64 manual signal boxes along the route. It controlled 36 route miles. The equipment inside included a telephone exchange and control panels for the relevant parts of the network.
The box was designated a grade II listed building on 24 November 1995, along with several other post-war railway buildings including Coventry railway station as part of a re-evaluation of such structures.
The official list entry describes it as "very much a 'one off' constructed on a very difficult and congested site" and "a dramatic building of exceptional architectural quality with a strongly sculptural form".
The following February, The Railway Magazine described the division of opinion surrounding the building: "described by some as the principal architectural monument of the WCML modernisation and by others as an eyesore".
From 2005, the technology used in the box was increasingly outdated and spare parts were in short supply. Network Rail began reducing its area of operation as part of its work to digitise signalling on the railway network.The box closed on 24 December 2022, with its functions transferred to Saltley Rail Operating Centre. A Network Rail spokesperson told Architects' Journal that the structure's upper floors could be repurposed as a training facility; Network Rail maintenance teams are based in the lower part of the box, which will remain the property of Network Rail and in regular use
20250305_162037
The grade two listed New Street PSB.
History:
Opened on July 3, 1966
Closed on December 24, 2022
Designed by architects Paul Hamilton and John Bicknell
Birmingham New Street Signal Box is situated on the corner of Brunel and Navigation Streets and at the west end of the platforms of Birmingham New Street railway station.
Opened on 3 July 1966, the brutalist structure is a grade II listed building for its architectural value and a prominent city centre landmark. It closed on 24 December 2022.
The box was designed by Bicknell and Hamilton (an architectural practice led by John Bicknell and Paul Hamilton) in collaboration with Ray Moorcroft, British Rail's regional architect for the London Midland region. An example of brutalist architecture, it was built from 1964 to 1966 as part of the remodelling of New Street station.
The construction of the signal box and the remodelling of the station were part of the West Coast Main Line route modernisation, which included overhead electrification of the entire route. The box was one of four power signal boxes in the West Midlands which replaced 64 manual signal boxes along the route. It controlled 36 route miles. The equipment inside included a telephone exchange and control panels for the relevant parts of the network.
The box was designated a grade II listed building on 24 November 1995, along with several other post-war railway buildings including Coventry railway station as part of a re-evaluation of such structures.
The official list entry describes it as "very much a 'one off' constructed on a very difficult and congested site" and "a dramatic building of exceptional architectural quality with a strongly sculptural form".
The following February, The Railway Magazine described the division of opinion surrounding the building: "described by some as the principal architectural monument of the WCML modernisation and by others as an eyesore".
From 2005, the technology used in the box was increasingly outdated and spare parts were in short supply. Network Rail began reducing its area of operation as part of its work to digitise signalling on the railway network.The box closed on 24 December 2022, with its functions transferred to Saltley Rail Operating Centre. A Network Rail spokesperson told Architects' Journal that the structure's upper floors could be repurposed as a training facility; Network Rail maintenance teams are based in the lower part of the box, which will remain the property of Network Rail and in regular use