Birmingham New Street is one of the major interchange stations on the UK rail network, served by the majority of cross-country trains as well as express trains between London, the north-west and Glasgow, midlands regional and local trains, mid-Wales to Eastern England regional and express routes and Birmingham urban services. All of this makes this the bussiest station in the country (in terms of the number of trains that stop).
The station is right in the heart of Birmingham City Centre and is partly underground, with all the approach routes in tunnels. This has constrained the station and its approaches such that it is over capacity most of the time.
This congestion causes and increases delays to many services, making frequent platform alterations a hallmark of the station - often between distant platforms at short notice. Consequently this interchange concourse is normally heaving with passengers dashing between platforms while trying to avoid both each other and those people standing still working which train they need and at which platform it will arrive at.
This photograph was taken at about 8pm on a sunday evening and so the concourse is about as empty as I've ever seen it.
Photographed by Chris McKenna 15/08/2004. #cmckenna@sucs.org