Government pledges funding to extend Midland Metro
THE Government has pledged to invest more than £75m to enable the completion of the Midland Metro extension through Birmingham city centre.
Passenger transport authority Centro has welcomed the announcement from Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, hailing the decision as a major step forward in the £129.2m project.
The extension will enable trams to run between Snow Hill and New Street Station, improving the efficiency of the new rail terminal once the gateway project is completed in 2015.
Centro said confirmation of the funding would enable it to invite companies to bid for key elements of the project such as supplying a new fleet of trams and the building of a new maintenance depot at Wednesbury.
Centro chief executive Geoff Inskip said: “We have been working very closely with the Department for Transport since October in determining the final costs of the schemes and we’re delighted that the Government has approved these.
“It means we can now press on with buying a new fleet of trams for the Metro system and building the maintenance depot. We will be inviting companies to bid for the building of the extension itself next year.
“This approval keeps us on track to have the Metro extension open to coincide with the completion of the New Street Station Gateway refurbishment.”
The joint project by Centro and councils in the Black Country and Birmingham, is expected to boost the West Midlands economy by £50m a year and create up to 1,300 sustainable new jobs.
It will provide a fast link between Birmingham’s two major rail stations and deliver more than 3.5 million passengers a year right into the heart of the city’s shopping district.
Mr Hammond’s announcement also saw several other transport projects in the West Midlands moved into a development pool, with funding decisions on them likely to be announced later in the year.
These include:
• The £19m Coventry to Nuneaton Rail Enhancement Scheme (NUCKLE) providing additional rail services and new stations at Ricoh Arena and Bermuda
• The £30m Darlaston Strategic Development Area Scheme providing new and enhanced roads to serve the regeneration of 54 acres of brownfield land.
• A £23m scheme to upgrade the Chester Road in Birmingham including sections of bus lanes and cycling and pedestrian facilities.
• The £11m A45 Westbound Bridge scheme involving the replacement of the 19th century bridge carrying the dual carriageway near Birmingham Airport
• The Worcester Integrated Transport Strategy
• The A4184 Evesham (Abbey) Bridge Maintenance (Worcestershire)
Mr Inskip said Centro had been working with its partners on the first four of these schemes to ensure the business cases were robust.
“We are pleased that the Government has agreed to progress them to the next funding stage,” he said.
Two schemes have failed to be carried forward in the current spending review period. These are the Stafford Western Access Improvement Programme and a maintenance scheme for the A38(M) Tame Valley Viaduct.
