The controversy over the cancellation of the Manchester leg of HS2 may have brought some disappointment to those planning ambitious station designs for the city, its airport and Crewe, but it is not all bad news.

With the money saved being redirected, many more railway stations will be built or upgraded across the country, not least in the Midland Rail Hub. Network Rail has just started the bidding process for the upgrade works across the region.

Although much of this work will be on tracks, overhead lines and other aspects of infrastructure, the stations themselves will be the focus of much of the attention and funding of £1.4 billion. 

While this goes on, the new HS2 stations that will be built in the Midlands, such as Curzon Street in Birmingham, are set to feature some very modern elements, with a lot of glass involved.

This will help provide more natural light in the daytime and also make it easier for passengers to navigate around the stations, as transparent barriers and a lack of visual obstructions like roof pillars will make it easy to see.

Similar features may appear in upgraded stations around the area. The advantage of features like glass partition walls is they can keep areas separate while allowing people to see from one side to another to help navigate. Such barriers may be placed between the concourse and platforms to prevent ticketless access, or in ticket offices to control queues.

The money announced for the Midlands Rail Hub is the most obvious rail-centric element of the redirected cash, but there will be many other instances across the Midlands and north. This includes £4.7 billion for non-metropolitan areas for transport improvements.

Funding will be spread over seven years and represents nine times the level of funding these areas would normally receive for transport.

The refurbishment of bus and rail stations is among the listed purposes for which cash may be used.