A second entrance to Birmingham’s Snow Hill Station built at a cost of £17 million could remain unused for months while transport body Centro tries to thrash out a legal agreement with rail chiefs.
The new access point of Livery Street is ready to be opened after it is cleaned, but Centro chief executive Geoff Inskip has been unable to come up with a date to open it to passengers.
He said no agreement had been reached with owners Network Rail and managers London Midland to allow people to use the access off Livery Street and cross platforms to Midland Metro services.
The building project has been mired in problems since the cost ballooned from £10 million to £17 million and ran more than two years over its completion date. Contractors Bam Nuttall ran into problems when tunnelling under the arches of the Snow Hill viaduct to create lift and subway access.
The entrance will allow people who live in the Jewellery Quarter to access the station without having to cross Great Charles Street Queensway.
Mr Inskip this week faced criticism from members of transport authority Centro, who said they were angry that the taxpayer-funded scheme could lay idle for months.
Coun David Jamieson, Labour councillor for Solihull, said: “I am concerned this wasn’t nailed down in the last five years while it was being built.
“Somebody looking in might think we ought to get our house in order before we ask for more taxpayers’ money.”
