Rail ambition
Cities used to think modern art could save them. Now it’s railway stations
IN JANUARY commuters voted Birmingham New Street one of Britain’s worst railway stations. Each day nearly 150,000 people move through a structure built for half as many. But by next year it will be transformed, with 400 tonnes of undulating steel cladding and a vaguely eyeball appearance. The station will have “the wow factor”, boasts Sir Albert Bore, the leader of Birmingham city council. It will also show how much attitudes to railway stations have changed.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Rail ambition”
From the March 1st 2014 edition
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