Government white paper includes £550m funding for Birmingham New Street and £425m redevelopment of Reading station
New railway stations will be built at Birmingham New Street and central London under plans announced in the government’s Transport White Paper.
![Blackfriars Thameslink station](https://d2vhdk00tg424t.cloudfront.net/MediaLibrary/s3/ubm-library/web/e/w/b/blackfriars_railway_lead.jpg)
The first tranche of funding for the £550m redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station was announced. Network Rail will contribute £128m towards the project, which includes the construction of a concourse fives times bigger than the current space and a glass roof. The scheme’s partners are looking for a total of £300m public funding for the scheme, which is due to open in 2013.
The green light was also given to the £3.55bn cross-London Thameslink programme, which will see new stations at Blackfriars and London Bridge in the City of London. Completion of the project as a whole is scheduled for 2015, with the bulk of improvements made in time for the 2012 Olympics.
Reading station will also see a £425m redevelopment, with the construction of new platforms and tracks, and Farringdon station in London will see extensive improvement work. A total of 150 stations will be upgraded by 2014.
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