The new design by architect Weston Williamson & Partners and consultant Expedition Engineering proposes a through station located below ground rather than a terminus above ground, allowing services to run continuously between Liverpool and West Yorkshire.

Its design also offers a new ‘urban quarter’ adjacent to the station and commercial opportunities above it, similar to the Hudson Yards development near Penn station in New York City.

Weston Williamson founding partner Rob Naybour says the plan demonstrates the “regenerative potential of infrastructure projects” to help re-energise the economy post Coronavirus.

Expedition Engineering director Alistair Lenczner adds that its proposed station square would provide Manchester with a “modern fully integrated transportation hub commensurate with the city’s standing in the top tier of regional European cities”.

In other High Speed 2 news, three bidders have been invited to tender for a £570M contract to build Curzon Street station in Birmingham. They are BAM Ferrovial, Laing O’Rourke Construction and Mace Dragados.

The station recently became the first on High Speed 2 to gain planning approval and is to be net zero carbon in operation. The design of the station is said to be inspired by the great arched roofs built by the Victorian railway pioneers and was developed by WSP and Grimshaw Architects.

And at Euston, timelapse footage has been released showing the demolition of a redundant ramp once used by the Royal Mail to take parcels on to trains, to make room for the new high speed terminus. To view the video click here.