From 'Birmingham Station' to 'Curzon Street' - the rich history of HS2's Birmingham Station

The arrival of the railway to Birmingham Station changed travel forever. Soon, Curzon Street will once again be at the heart of Britain's rail network and it's history should be celebrated.

As work on Curzon Street Station progresses, we can anticipate a modern building with modern principles - as the HS2 website states it will be ‘one of the most environmentally-friendly stations in the world’.

Part of the architectural design is to accommodate the early Victorian terminus building which has its own claim to fame as being one of the oldest railway buildings in the world. It is a great brick of a building in the neo-classical style, with four hefty ionic columns stretching up its façade.

Completed in 1838, the building marked the arrival of the London and Birmingham railway to the town, which was immensely exciting to the inhabitants. It was simply called Birmingham Station, as there were no others. 

The arrival of the railway changed travel forever. The horse drawn carriages which had advertised themselves as ‘flying coaches’ to denote how swiftly they could get you to your destination, slowly waned as rail travel became easier and more comfortable. Initially, “Birmingham Station” 

Inside the building contained the board room of the directors, offices for the secretary, financial and correspondence departments, as well as a ‘refreshment saloon’ for the passengers. You bought your tickets to the left of the building before alighting the train beneath one of a parade of 'iron sheds'.

The novelty of the railway is seen in the detail in which it was described, which allows us to travel as if it were the first time a train had ever arrived in Birmingham:

'Porters with ladders are mounting and placing luggage on the tops, passengers are taking their seats, and arranging themselves for the journey; young ladies [...] who are going on a visit, accompanied by their mammas on one side, and lovers on the other, the servant man or maid following with band-box, are saluted and tended until they are safely packed in their places, and all the paraphernalia of veil, boa, cloak, muff, and reticule containing biscuits and oranges, scent bottle and purse, with change ready for use- are properly ordered. Old travellers, who have been most of their lives on stage coaches, take their places, and being accustomed to prepare at a moment’s notice, seat themselves, and quietly look on.

I shall suppose that you mounted on the box seat. You look round, and see several engines with red-hot fires in their bodies, and volumes of steam issuing from their tall chimnies. One of them move slowly towards you. The huge creature bellows, at first, like an elephant. Deep, slow, and terrific are the hoarse heavings that it makes. It passes by your train of carriages [...] there it is, roaring, groaning, and grunting, like a sea-horse, and spouting up steam like a whale. You feel a deep, strong, tremulous motion throughout the train, and a loud jingling rattle is heard, analogous to what is experienced in a cotton mill. The conductor has done his part and is seated; the guard is in his box at the back of the first carriage; a bell is rung as a signal for starting—and you are off.'

The journey was not necessarily a comfortable one, but it was a fast one in comparison with other modes of transport of the time. The speed of travel was, as it is today, important to the early Victorians. 

Written by Jenni Dixon