End of the line for Birmingham New Street signal box
A landmark railway signal box which has helped guide passengers safely into one of the UK's busiest stations will close on Christmas Eve.
The Brutalist building at Birmingham New Street has been in operation since 1966, with much of the technology used on day one still being used this week, nearly 60 years later.
A multimillion-pound signalling upgrade by Network Rail has taken place, however, and from Tuesday 27 December, signalling will be controlled from a state-of-the-art centre in the city's Saltley area.
The New Street building, one of the best-known examples of Birmingham's brutalist architecture, is Grade-II listed, and although no formal plans have been announced, it is thought it could be used as a training centre for the next generation of railway signallers.
New Street is the UK's busiest station outside of London, with more than eight million passengers last year. On a normal day, up to 1,200 trains pass through.
A film by John Bray
