The LNWR had obtained an Act of Parliament in 1846, to extend their line into the centre of Birmingham, which involved the acquisition of some of land, and the demolition of around 70 houses in Peck Lane, The Froggery, Queen Street, and Colmore Street. The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion chapel, on the corner of Peck Lane and Dudley Street, which had only been built six years before, was also demolished. The station was formally opened on 1 June 1854, although the uncompleted station had already been in use for two years as a terminus for trains from the Stour Valley Line, which entered the station from the Wolverhampton direction. On the formal opening day, the LNWR's Curzon Street station was closed to regular passenger services, and trains from the London direction started using New Street.