Birmingham City Council has unveiled the Birmingham Curzon HS2 Masterplan, which will see 141 hectares of the city centre transformed.

The plans form one of the biggest urban regeneration schemes in Britain, and by far the biggest redevelopment so far announced on the back of HS2.

The new developments will be focused around the brand new city centre station – Birmingham Curzon – where HS2 terminates on its 49-minute journey from London. The station will place the city at the heart of the new national high speed network.

Plans include the creation of more than 14,000 jobs, 600,000 sq metres of new employment floorspace and 2,000 new homes. The regeneration will also help boost the city's economy by £1.3bn each year.

The plans are a critical part of the city's efforts to support its burgeoning creative, learning and research sectors and the booming professional and financial services industry.

City leaders in Birmingham hailed the potential of HS2 as a catalyst for urban regeneration and called on political leaders to push ahead with the rail scheme and help unlock growth across the country.


The Curzon HS2 Masterplan is the latest in a series of major projects that are remaking Birmingham's city centre. The £600m transformation of New Street Station will be completed next year along with a £128m Midland Metro extension linking the station with the existing tram line at Snow Hill.

Ambitious plans have also been tabled for Paradise Circus in the heart of the city including a second Metro tram extension continuing on from New Street Station to Centenary Square.

Eastside City Park was the first new city centre park in Birmingham for more than 130 years when it opened next to Curzon Street in December 2012, and the critically acclaimed Library of Birmingham opened last year as a centre of learning and a major tourist attraction.

Sir Albert Bore, Leader of Birmingham Council said: "We set out our vision for how Birmingham can use HS2 as a catalyst to transform a huge part of our city, bringing with it jobs and prosperity for people in the West Midlands.

"We're not waiting around for HS2 to get built before we get started. We're announcing our plans today, and we're ready to start building as soon as the new railway gets the green light.

"Up and down the length of HS2 there is huge potential for major regeneration and development and we must press forward with this project without delay."

Birmingham Curzon station will be Birmingham's HS2 hub, linking phase one of the project, from London to Birmingham, and phase two from Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester.

HS2 will boost the West Midlands economy by £4.1bn each year and create more than 51,000 new jobs by providing extra capacity and better connections to London and the north.

The new Birmingham Curzon station will be the first new station to be built in Birmingham for over 100 years and when complete will be the biggest building in the city.

The station would be served by Metro trams on a new route branching off the extension currently being built through the city centre.

(CD/JP)