Birmingham New Street Reviews Summary

Design and Layout

Pros:

• "The mirror like aluminium design in front of the main entrance of the station is the best feature of the building."
• "The whole grand Central from the inside leading to the train station is visually beautiful."
• "The whole station building is uniquely designed and developed to be able to exit in every corner of the main building."
• "A great building, high ceilings let in a lot of light. John Lewis and other retailers now make the station a place to visit rather than pass through."
• "This train station has a magnificent design with a wide range of diverse facilities, including comfortable waiting lounges, restaurants and cafes, retail shops, clean restrooms, and efficient transportation facilities."
• "The new concourse is very bright and airy with a spectacular roof providing lots of natural light (on sunny days at least)."
• "The building is huge with a modern and beautiful design, with shops and places to eat."

Cons:

• "The building had an overhaul but the design is terrible and makes no logical sense."
• "Who has designed the station has some clear problem. More a wanna be shop mall with some options to catch a train."
• "The orientation is absolutely horrible, you have to scan your ticket out and scan it in again to change platforms."
• "The station itself I think has been poorly designed, they've spent more time focusing on what businesses and restaurants they can fit in there rather than fixing the actual flow of people finding and leaving platforms."
• "The design of this place is the most counter-intuitive I have ever seen."
• "But the 'railway station design' is terrible, being easy to get lost."
• "Like a maze, very hard to find which platform you may need."

Staff and Customer Service

Pros:

• "Station is big and clean. The staff are really friendly and helpful!"
• "Nothing is too much trouble for the staff, even knowing which exit leads to which number of bus stops!"
• "I cannot praise Mark Guy up enough... He was very polite, friendly and very efficient, certainly knows his job."
• "Staff are so friendly. And helpful theres staff and security everywhere so it's great if u get confused which train to catch."
• "Staff are very helpful, but I feel that the station as a overall could make other passengers aware of hidden disabilities by putting signs up indicating the sunflower landyard."
• "I have always thought Birmingham new street was an excellent train station but felt compelled to write a review because the customer service staff are just brilliant!"
• "The staff at the station were amazing with me and all I dealt with seemed very knowledgeable and experienced of disabilities including Autism."

Cons:

• "Having travelled for a number of years in and out of New Street station, I recently had my pass refused. There are new staff, lacking in the art of communication, let alone customer service."
• "Unhelpful staff member, they keep saying 'I don't know' or 'maybe' when you ask them."
• "I just had the worst experience not with the train or the food here but with the staff!... He still insisted it was my mistake and he offered me to get the refund from the ticket I purchased in Coventry, I said ok. But still, it hurt me so bad when he kept saying it was my mistake and he did not apologize at all!"
• "woman at the gate was really unhelpful and didn’t help my daughter or her boyfriend with their worries regarding their trip home."
• "Trains run on time but to the guy who didn't help me on the gate to the green lounge gate 12, he was very rude and condescending."
• "But the people who work there OMG! I have literally travelled all around the world but New St Station rail staff are the rudest, attitude filled, unprofessional, unhelpful people I have ever in my entire life on this earth ever experienced."
• "Numerous occasions staff have been ignorant too."

Cleanliness and Facilities

Pros:

• "Station is big and clean. The staff are really friendly and helpful!"
• "The ground floor is spacious, light and full of shops that cater for many needs."
• "The station's cleanliness, ample seating, diverse shops, and dining options make waiting for trains enjoyable."
• "The toilets were clean and signboards were easy to follow."
• "Station facilities are good and plenty of seating in the waiting areas. Cleanliness is high."
• "Modern, clean station with easy access to all trains and platforms."
• "The station has been updated over the years and offers good food courts, public toilets, lots of staff on floor that always available to assist with any enquiries."

Cons:

• "Its dirty and grim."
• "edit: there's no bins on platforms"
• "And no dustbins anywhere on the platforms. Weird. And MOST uncomfortable."
• "Theft of personal belongings is a real big issue at this particular station."
• "The ladies' loo near platform 10 was a disgrace - wet floors, litter including 2 bottles of cola scattered around the cubicles."
• "It's spaceous but in many places dirty with randomly thrown trash - that's why I didn't gave 5 stars."
• "The platforms are still too narrow, dark dirty and polluted."