Birmingham New Street Station

The business case prepared by consultancy Steer Davies Gleave (SDG) has helped to secure a £400m investment to transform Birmingham New Street station into a world class transport hub.

SDG worked on behalf of the Birmingham Gateway scheme partners, Network Rail, Birmingham City Council, Advantage West Midlands and Centro to develop the project`s business case in support of the successful funding application to Government.

SDG`s project director, Leo Eyles said: "Birmingham New Street Station is the hub of local and national rail network in the West Midlands.

"The redevelopment of Birmingham New Street Station would transform the environment in and around the station and provide the opportunity for the area to catch up with the `new Birmingham` on its doorstep - taking the form of stylish, modern shopping and leisure developments such as the Bull Ring, Mailbox and Brindley Place.

"In addition, the upgrade will bring significant support to the rejuvenation of Birmingham and the West Midlands as the local and regional economy continues to grow.

Chris Whitehouse, SDG`s project manager said: "For the successful business case, we came up with a comprehensive and flexible approach that encompassed the full breadth of the scheme`s benefits, avoided double-counting and ensured consistency across the differing requirements of the potential funding bodies.

"SDG also conducted innovative Stated Preference surveys to determine how people valued the benefits of visual amenity improvements of the scheme.

"Employing these various methods enabled SDG to build a strong business case for the Birmingham Gateway project, both economically and in terms of performance against the wider Department for Transport (DfT) appraisal objectives."