Business groups have praised Ruth Kelly after the transport secretary announced higher than expected public funding for Birmingham’s New Street station.
New Street will receive £400m of public money towards a revamp that is expected to cost £550m in total.
The Pallasades shopping centre that sits over the station will be demolished and a new retail space built to the south to allow for the construction of a glass roof and two office blocks on either side of the platforms.
The Financial Times says the increased funding package may have been intended to assuage critics north of the Watford Gap who have long complained about what they see as the growing chasm separating them from the capital in terms of transport spending.
13/02/08 Financial Times 3
