Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council, has criticised the government for delaying the decision to regenerate New Street station into a modern transport hub.

Whitby, speaking after taking a tour of St Pancras station in London, which is currently undergoing a multi-million pound redevelopment to allow high-speed links to mainland Europe, said: “We cannot escape to notice that whilst St Pancras is being totally refurbished and is set to open soon, in Birmingham we are still waiting for the Government to deliver the funding to allow us to move forward with New Street.

“With a positive financial commitment from the Government this year, we could have a completely revitalised New Street Gateway by 2013, with much of the work done by the time of the Olympic Games.”

Birmingham New Street opened in 1854 and currently handles about 80 per cent of the daily total services to Birmingham, serving more than 31 million people every year.