I hadn't realised that Brum New Street was being refurbed

[Kim]

Okay, I went and had a look...


The exterior's looking pretty good, at least while it's clean:


The main atrium is bright and airy as intended:


Other areas appear murky in comparison, though the large amount of space should ease overcrowding...




Dedicated taxi rank exit (currently a building site for the unfinished retail opportunities), with homeless-repellent seating and en-suite "dog spend":


Navigation Street still looks like Birmingham.  Whoever's in charge of covering things in foil has missed a bit:


The drop-and-go area complements the platform level gloom, low ceiling and diesel exhaust aesthetic.  Cycle parking has been upgraded from the original 6 wheel-benders to non-standards-complaint^[1] Sheffield stands, with active wheel-bending provided by motorists manoeuvring in the drop-off area (the temporary cycle parking in the Moor Street walkway is due to be removed at the end of the week):


More here.

TBH, I reckon they've done a decent job at least on crowd flow and level access.  I'm a bit underwhelmed by the lighting.  Plenty of options for getting in and out of the station, and accessing platforms, mean that it'll be quick and efficient for locals familiar with where they're going, and extremely confusing for everyone else.  Signage isn't bad - previously discussed font issues aside.  And they've done a decent job of having plenty of random ticket machines.  Cycle parking is shite.  Retail opportunities are prolific.  I didn't have a ticket, so couldn't examine the new rail-side facilities, notably the all-important 'A' end lifts.

Basically, I like the roof.  It's a shame there aren't trains under it.


_{[1] I suspect that National Rail are standardising on the Brompton.  These are bolt-on stands buried in concrete, so they're lower than they're supposed to be.  I measured 550mm to the wall.}

[Canardly]

I suspect the platforms level is as unfriendly as always.

[Kim]

I suspect the platforms level is as unfriendly as always.

Slightly better lighting, improved electronic signage, and otherwise much the same.

The platform works aren't due to be completed for a while yet, so some of them are still partly boarded off.

[Basil]

Not really much you can do to improve a platform.  Lighting, air con and signage, yes for sure.  Chaise lounges instead of benches?  Probably not.

[Steph]

I've been through Mordor a few times recently, the last on September 1st. Lifts are few and far between and regularly broken down. They are also mind-numbingly slow and far too small. Platforms are dark, dreary and difficult to access with luggage or a bike. Information boards are mostly upstairs, so checking for other platforms is a nightmare.


But they've got retail space aplenty for the real business of a station.

By chance, at a meeting in Sheffield, I shared a station lift with the head contractor for the redevelopment of both Mordor and Reading, and I made the point about the tiny, slow, irritating excuses for lifts.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Seen the old one described as "a triumph of concrete bewilderment". 

[Kim]

I've been through Mordor a few times recently, the last on September 1st. Lifts are few and far between and regularly broken down. They are also mind-numbingly slow and far too small.

Those are the new^[1], 'B' end lifts, the addition of which has been one of the real improvements made by the redevelopment.  The main lifts at the 'A' end have been out of bounds since the refurbishment started, and have been reconfigured to go directly to concourse level.  Which is why I'm eager to find out if they're a sensible size or not (the old ones were a decent size, but mostly took you down to an underpass from where you'd have to use one of two heavily-contended lifts to reach ground level, which could mean a 20 minute wait if there were a lot of prams ahead of you).

I think the official line on lift reliability is that at least they're better than the escalators... 



_{[1] For "a few years old now" values of new.  Obviously the 'A' end lifts are now even newer, but are replacing ones that already existed in the concrete bewilderment days.}

[mrcharly-YHT]

Dedicated taxi rank exit (currently a building site for the unfinished retail opportunities), with homeless-repellent seating and en-suite "dog spend":

I think that is anti-skateboarder rather than anti-homeless. I could curl up on that quite easily, but couldn't grind my trucks along the edge.

[Kim]

I think that is anti-skateboarder rather than anti-homeless. I could curl up on that quite easily, but couldn't grind my trucks along the edge.

Ah, that makes sense.  I didn't think they were particularly well-engineered.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Is a "dog spend" the drain with the grille over it?

[Kim]

Is a "dog spend" the drain with the grille over it?

No, they get a dedicated facility:



...which I assume, like the cycle parking, isn't quite finished yet:




Some dogs don't like being emptied on concrete.  I don't think painting it green will fool them.

It's still up-market compared to the dog-emptying facilities at an institution not a great distance from where I am now, which consist of a fenced off bit of car park, unfortunately at a higher elevation and without any special drainage...   

[Cudzoziemiec]

Ah, so it's an actual thing. I thought it was just a euphemism referring to the function the drain will no doubt end up serving.

Dedicated of you to photograph it. 

[Kim]

Dedicated of you to photograph it. 

I was looking round with a mind to accessibility so it seemed worth making a note of, if only so I could tell barakta (who often has visiting blind people arriving via Mordor Central) it was there.  Not to mention the "WTF is a 'dog spend'?" factor.

[Si]

I had a look on Monday.  Just struck me as being like every other faceless new shopping mall that I've studiously avoided.

I did notice that they'd put purple paint on the walls of the escalators, but the platform levels are still not looking like the architects' models yet.

Also slightly mystified by the "Access platform X via the red lounge" signs....didn't find any lounges of any colour.

And the big silver wall outside the bull ring end.....looks nice but needs some guttering as the water was flowing off it in the rain.

Having said that, it's better than it was....but then you'd need a seriously good architect to make it worse.

[Kim]

Also slightly mystified by the "Access platform X via the red lounge" signs....didn't find any lounges of any colour.

It appears to be a rather optimistic euphemism for "rail-side human enclosure".

I think the colour-coding goes as far as the names on the signs, rather than an actual distinct colourscheme that might help people without a sense of direction orient themselves (something the station desperately needs).

[Kim]

One year ago today.  They appear to have suspended the No Cycling rule so that people in 1950s retail-opportunity-themed morph suits can celebrate the event.  Or something.

https://twitter.com/NetworkRailBHM/status/779674620509249536/video/1

[mllePB]

One year ago today.  They appear to have suspended the No Cycling rule so that people in 1950s retail-opportunity-themed morph suits can celebrate the event.  Or something.

https://twitter.com/NetworkRailBHM/status/779674620509249536/video/1

Railway byelaw must be just like bridleways - no cycling rule doesn't apply to unicycles.

[Kim]

Mordor Central have a confusing habit of reversing escalators at weekends to "maintain functionality".  Barakta has been grilling them on Twitter about it, because it's an access issue.

Meanwhile, I've been googling and have just realised that the reasoning is actually pretty obvious: An escalator is basically a load of steps on a chain, wrapped around a couple of sprockets.  As cyclists, we all know how a chain drive wears if run in the same direction the whole time.  (There are also more subtle issues, like people standing on the right disproportionately wearing axles on one side)  So to keep the escalators capable of reversing - a reasonable thing to want for emergency evacuations or unusually busy times - they have to reverse them regularly, which also extends the service life.

http://www.elevatorworld.com/magazine/stepband/ is a rather good article I found on the subject.

Which is quite disappointing, because I was imagining all the steps accumulating at one end and needing to be re-wound for the following week.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I wonder if the same applies to lifts? I'm imagining a paternoster reversing just as you're about to step off...

[Kim]

What is it with architects forgetting about the sun?

They're going to deliberately dull the foil coating so it doesn't blind taxi drivers!

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/new-street-stations-shiny-panels-12090538

[barakta]

I hate the mirrored nonsense and the eyes of Sauron cos it's all MOVING and trying to walk while everything is moving without falling over is substantially hard work but they don't care about real people cos it looks funky and cool. Tossweasels!

[Kim]

Resurrecting this thread because it shouldn't go unnoticed that That Nice Mr Paulley has got 'Mordor' into Hansard, via the now legendary Tanni Grey-Thompson.   

[barakta]

Reminds me I have complained (again) about all the flickering broken LED lights and not received a reply. Also that there's zillions of screens inside at eye level with moving shite on them which DOES NOT HELP!

One more warning and then I defenestrate.

[Butterfly]

Resurrecting this thread because it shouldn't go unnoticed that That Nice Mr Paulley has got 'Mordor' into Hansard, via the now legendary Tanni Grey-Thompson.   

Oh Bravo!

I hope the points she has made are properly listened to.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Resurrecting this thread because it shouldn't go unnoticed that That Nice Mr Paulley has got 'Mordor' into Hansard, via the now legendary Tanni Grey-Thompson.   

Oh Bravo!

I hope the points she has made are properly listened to.

The Campaign for Level Boarding has been mentioned, in ambition though not by that name, in

(click to show/hide)

rail magazines you can flick through in the stupormarket. Including the long-term necessity of totally rebuilding stations such as Bristol Temple Meads where the platforms are on a curve.