Birmingham's "new" New Street station is vital to the renaissance of a city widely perceived as lagging behind Manchester in pursuit of regional pre-eminence.
It's coming in at a cost of £600million - part-funded by the national and local government, with developers Mace stumping up the rest.
A flagship John Lewis store will be the retail anchor of the Grand Central shopping mall that will occupy the upper floor, giving Brum a shopping "offer" unrivalled outside of London - the massive Bullring development is only over the road from the station's new main entrance and the upmarket Mailbox a short walk away will shortly boast a revamped Harvey Nicks.
It remains to be seen whether this is a sensible trade-off for failing to deal with the chronic track congestion at New Street, which continue to blight national and local rail links.
In the meantime, as these pictures show, work is continuing apace ahead of the opening in September.
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