Work on £500m "Birmingham Gateway" redevelopment project should begin in 2008.
Network Rail has revealed plans for a £500m redevelopment of Birmingham's New Street station.
Work on the famously subterranean station could begin in 2008, with completion set for 2013 at the earliest.
The Birmingham Gateway project, as it is called, will increase passenger capacity with 42 escalators and 14 lifts and feature a transparent roof and enlarged concourse.
New Street flanks the Bullring, the recently-redeveloped quarter of Birmingham that is home to the iconic Selfridges department store.
The new station will have a public square opposite the Bullring and a piazza on its south side.
It is understood that around £350m of the final cost for the station will come from the public sector, while the other £150m will be paid for by commercial redevelopment of the station's south side. No development partner has been named.
