Birmingham New Street’s famous power signal box closed in Christmas 2022. Network Rail Central Route Director DENISE WETTON and Operations Director MARTIN COLMEY talk to ANDY RODEN about the challenges and successes of this major resignalling programme
Standing as a forbidding sentinel on the edge of Birmingham New Street station, its distinctive power signal box has had a staffed presence 24 hours a day in the city centre since 1966 when it opened.
A product of the West Coast main line upgrade of the 1960s, it fits in with the modernist style of so many rebuilt stations on the route, but its time in front line service is over. At its peak capability it was able to control 1,200 trains every day. It is the last survivor of four power signal boxes in the region and a local landmark of considerable importance. So if Network Rail Central Route Director Denise Wetton seems pleased at the moment, a good reason for that may be the successful resignalling of Birmingham New Street, which was completed over the Christmas 2022 period.
Birmingham New Street is the eight busiest station in Britain and the busiest outside London. In 2022, 49.5 million entries and exits were recorded, with countless more passeng…
