Brum's 'Raging Bull' is back in full! And its new home is right up our street...
The star of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games will be kept permanently at New Street Station
Last updated 8th Feb 2023
The star of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games' opening ceremony - the mechanical bull - is finally being given a permanent home.
It's been confirmed the 10-metre (32ft) tall creation, better known as the Raging Bull, will be installed in the atrium of Birmingham New Street station.
Exactly six months since the end of the games, plans have been revealed for the star of the spectacular opening ceremony (better known as 'The Raging Bull') to arrive at Britain’s busiest station outside of London on a one-way ticket this summer.
Following the Games, an estimated four million people visited the bull in its temporary home in Centenary Square.
It was then moved to a car park in Ladywood, but after outcries from Brummies, city chiefs promised that it would be found a more fitting - and final - home.
As it was never intended to have a life after the games as a cultural feature, the metal beast is still being modified to become a permanent fixture.
Then the huge task of relocating the Raging Bull can be set in motion, aiming for a summer 2023 arrival.
The Raging Bull, a homage to the West Midlands’ contribution to the Industrial Revolution*, wowed crowds at last year’s opening ceremony and over the summer while on display in Birmingham.
Since taking pride of place in the city centre’s Centenary Square for several weeks, and latterly a temporary storage facility in Ladywood, the Bull is currently in a workshop in south east England.
It was never intended to be used after the games so designers are currently working on modifications to make the artwork more robust so it can be enjoyed by up to 800,000 people who pass through Birmingham New Street station every week.
Council bosses and regional mayor Andy Street have now hailed the "fantastic" news that the "magnificent bull" would soon be greeting the station's 800,000 weekly footfall of passengers and pedestrians.
New Street station could not be a more fitting place for the beloved Bull, with the station originally built 172 years ago and fundamental to the city’s industrial growth during the later stages of the Industrial Revolution.
The artwork was made from machinery from Birmingham and West Country factories, and was designed, built, and mechanised by a team of over 50 people from a UK-based special effects company.
More details of the Raging Bull’s return will be revealed over the coming months, with the sculpture set to be in its new home later this year.