Birmingham New Street station subway

[ProbablyIdiot]

Hey,
I went through New Street recently, and took the lift on platform 1a. I saw there was a keyhole for going to the “subway” floor. Is this the old way between the platforms from before the refurb and does anybody know what it’s used for now?
Thanks in advance

 

[Russel]

I believe it's just staff access between platforms, what is interesting it that it connects with The Mailbox (former RM sorting office).

 

[swt_passenger]

I believe it's just staff access between platforms, what is interesting it that it connects with The Mailbox (former RM sorting office).

Dedicated subways for mail handling were fairly common at many main stations.

 

[Pacef8]

Liverpool lime street to royal mail coppershill next door had a tunnel

 

[Rail Ranger]

Crewe had one.

 

[D6130]

York also had one....which has now been refurbished and opened to the public. Previously all passengers had to use the footbridge.

 

[TheTallOne]

They opened the subway up to visitors during the commonwealth games for the "key to the city" event.

Couple of photos below, there's probably more on social media, but probably hard to find them now.

Photos of the actual subway weren't allowed, including the gate that blocks the route towards the mailbox. Although some people did get sneaky photos.

These are just the route from the end of platform 1 to the subway itself.




Edit - found the hashtag! Couple of screenshots below from Instagram too.

 

[Russel]

Photos of the actual subway weren't allowed, including the gate that blocks the route towards the mailbox. Although some people did get sneaky photos.

Strange rule considering there was no access control to the subway before the recent station refurbishment, I remember using it to switch between platforms in the early 2000s.

 

[TheTallOne]

Strange rule considering there was no access control to the subway before the recent station refurbishment, I remember using it to switch between platforms in the early 2000s.

I'm not sure if it was a security concern (sometimes such tours come with strict rules from the owner of the premises),

...or if it was actually because they didn't want to spoil it for others - e.g. no point going on the tour if there are loads of photos and videos plastered all over social media.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Crewe had one.

Still very much does. Staff only from platform 12 to the Horse landing. It's the only connection to the Weston Road carpark

 

[jfollows]

Manchester Mayfield had a high level one, to the Royal Mail building on the east side of the Piccadilly station throat, which is now some kind of Network Rail building I think, for a while it offered “go karting” which someone with a deep sense of humour altered to “farting”.

 

[Belperpete]

Couldn't the New St subway be used to bypass the barrier line? I seem to recall coming out next to the taxi rank.

 

[Rail Ranger]

Wasn't that a parcels conveyor?

 

[AndrewE]

Manchester Mayfield had a high level one, to the Royal Mail building on the east side of the Piccadilly station throat,

Wasn't that a parcels conveyor?

Yes, as was one at Bristol TM.

 

[ac6000cw]

Hey,
I went through New Street recently, and took the lift on platform 1a. I saw there was a keyhole for going to the “subway” floor. Is this the old way between the platforms from before the refurb and does anybody know what it’s used for now?
Thanks in advance

I believe it's just staff access between platforms, what is interesting it that it connects with The Mailbox (former RM sorting office).

AFAIK historically, in normal circumstances the subway was 'staff only' and used for parcels and mail transfers between platforms, the old RM city-centre sorting office and the parcels and mail/road transfer dock that used to exist next to today's platform 12 (which only became a passenger platform when the 'Cross City' services started in 1978).

In the early 1970s when I first started trainspotting at New Street regularly, there was a lot of mail and parcels traffic carried on passenger trains - e.g. the Euston - Birmingham IC trains had a full-brake coach at each end to carry it (particularly the ones that terminated there, which had layover time to load and unload it). All in loose mailbags, manually handled between trains and blue BR 'BRUTE' trolleys, coupled into 'trains' and hauled around the platforms and along the subway by small (battery powered?) tractors.

I suspect the origins of the subway may go back to the original building of New Street as a joint LNWR/MR station in the 1850s (replacing terminal stations at Curzon Steet and Lawley Street), which had a central footbridge for passenger use and which maintained a public right-of-way across it (as the station had been built over/obliterated several streets). The public right-of-way moved up into the shopping centre in the 1960s station rebuild.

As for other ex-parcels and mail bridges/subways, the north end footbridge at Peterborough station was originally 'staff only' and continued across into the next-door RM sorting office (where the Waitrose supermarket is today).

 

[AndrewE]

As for other ex-parcels and mail bridges/subways, the north end footbridge at Peterborough station was originally 'staff only' and continued across into the next-door RM sorting office (where the Waitrose supermarket is today).

Presumably that is the same as at Stafford now too, where there is a "new" public overbridge with the lifts which I guess would have gone over to the post office area west of the station. Hence bringing another platform into use could be a lot cheaper than if a new bridge had to be built.

 

[The Planner]

Manchester Mayfield had a high level one, to the Royal Mail building on the east side of the Piccadilly station throat, which is now some kind of Network Rail building I think, for a while it offered “go karting” which someone with a deep sense of humour altered to “farting”.

Thats NRs main office in Manchester, Square One.

 

[LowLevel]

Couldn't the New St subway be used to bypass the barrier line? I seem to recall coming out next to the taxi rank.

Yes - but quite often there would be a mob of revenue inspectors hanging around outside the lifts to greet anyone using them!

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Couldn't the New St subway be used to bypass the barrier line? I seem to recall coming out next to the taxi rank.

It used to, yes. The lifts were out the front

 

[Ashley Hill]

Did the Reading subway survive the rebuilding of the station?

 

[Dr Hoo]

Did the Reading subway survive the rebuilding of the station?

There’s is a public subway under the station to allow pedestrians to cross from side to side but wholly outside the barriers.

 

[DelW]

I suspect the origins of the subway may go back to the original building of New Street as a joint LNWR/MR station in the 1850s (replacing terminal stations at Curzon Steet and Lawley Street), which had a central footbridge for passenger use and which maintained a public right-of-way across it (as the station had been built over/obliterated several streets). The public right-of-way moved up into the shopping centre in the 1960s station rebuild.

When I saw this thread, I wondered if the subway might be a relic of the pre 1960s station. Although I've used New Street since that era, I hadn't been aware of it. It might be all that's left of the original stations?

I always thought of them as two separate stations, with Queen's Drive as a kind of no man's land between them. IIRC even in the early '60s, they operated separately, with WCML services using the LNWR station, and SW - NE services using the Midland side. That's despite having been in common ownership for forty years since the grouping.

 

[D6975]

Is there still one at the south end of Derby station (ramps) or did it disappear with the rebuild a few years ago?

 

[LowLevel]

Is there still one at the south end of Derby station (ramps) or did it disappear with the rebuild a few years ago?

It is still there and available to the public. Behind the locked hoardings it carries on to various places including the Midland Hotel and out towards the Roundhouse I believe.

 

[southern442]

There is the old one at East Croydon - the lift on platform 5/6 still goes down there, I once was in the lift when I was a bit younger and a member of staff got in and used it to go down there!

 

[edwin_m]

It is still there and available to the public. Behind the locked hoardings it carries on to various places including the Midland Hotel and out towards the Roundhouse I believe.

However, when the station was remodelled about 15 years ago they didn't connect it to the new island which is now platform 6 and the phantom platform 7.

 

[Russel]

Not quite an off-limits subway, but a few years ago I got to use the staff only footbridge at Sheffield as the lift up to the public footbridge wasn't working and we had a pushchair with us, from what I remember, there was no daylight so it could have been mistaken for a subway!

 

[Belperpete]

It is still there and available to the public. Behind the locked hoardings it carries on to various places including the Midland Hotel and out towards the Roundhouse I believe.

Are you sure the underpass went to the Roundhouse? I would have thought it was too far south. There used to be a second overbridge that went to the Roundhouse, north of the current overbridge. This second overbridge is long gone, but last time I looked you can still see the riser for it on the station building.

 

[LowLevel]

Are you sure the underpass went to the Roundhouse? I would have thought it was too far south. There used to be a second overbridge that went to the Roundhouse, north of the current overbridge. This second overbridge is long gone, but last time I looked you can still see the riser for it on the station building.

Out towards rather than necessarily to - not sure exactly where it went but I think it carries on in both directions. Apparently it is quite extensive.

There's one at Leicester now used as a services chamber that is accessed via a manhole in a cupboard that in the same sort of vein goes out into what is now the car park and under the carriage sidings.

 

[ac6000cw]

When I saw this thread, I wondered if the subway might be a relic of the pre 1960s station. Although I've used New Street since that era, I hadn't been aware of it. It might be all that's left of the original stations?

I've just found this plan of the pre-1960s station on the NR website - https://cdn.prgloo.com/media/download/2d2b3eccf9cc4d0dab98b12b0b991076

It shows there were two subways back then (one at each end of the station), plus the central footbridge. But that plan is marked as 'BR LMR' and there's no clue when the subways were built.

I always thought of them as two separate stations, with Queen's Drive as a kind of no man's land between them. IIRC even in the early '60s, they operated separately, with WCML services using the LNWR station, and SW - NE services using the Midland side. That's despite having been in common ownership for forty years since the grouping.

Even after the 1960 rebuild, in terms of train operations it didn't really change much - the track layouts at each end (and the junction layouts further out on the east side) naturally segregate the flows into ex-LNWR on the north side and ex-Midland on the south. The long-distance/IC services certainly still operated like that in the early 1970s when I started visiting it regularly. One exception to that was the Paddington services, which usually started/terminated/ran-around in (northern-most) platform 1. It meant the sound of an idling 'Western' got reflected back across the station from the tall retaining wall behind it though...