Preparatory works to start in May for Wolverhampton Metro extension?

Utility diversion work on the route of the Wolverhampton City Centre Midland Metro extension through to the Railway Station look set to start in May – providing that the Transport and Works Act Order is approved by the government. Exact plans of when and where the works will be taking place have yet to be publically revealed but first plans are now being worked on jointly by Wolverhampton City Council and Centro.

It is anticipated that the first utility diversion work will start in mid-May and this work should take approximately 12 months. However as we have seen across the UK during similar works there are often utilities lurking beneath the surface which aren’t known about so there could be some delays to this programme. It is then planned that the first tracks will be laid from March 2017.

This Midland Metro extension is due to run along Piper’s Row before terminating outside Wolverhampton Railway Station. This alignment would mean that the current St George’s terminus would be bypassed by trams heading to the station but it is planned to keep both routes with some services still serving St George’s.

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11 Responses to Preparatory works to start in May for Wolverhampton Metro extension?

  1. Paul says:

    amey and seven Trent doing works on broad st in Birmingham

  2. Mark Smith says:

    Surely when the line to Dudley opens, that can go from St George and then the one to Birmingham can continue from Rail Station. I think the whole tramway needs an express line too for like peak times. Same for Manchester Metrolink to he fair. The lines are too long and need some way of bypassing stops. Supertram has the bells to request and that i like!

    • Paul says:

      I have thought that myself in two trams an hour in Rush hour- Birmingham – Nonsttop to West Bromwich Central -nonstop – Wednesbury Parkway – Non stop to Bilston central then non stop to Wolverhampton

      • Tony Sullivan says:

        I would have thought that with the frequency of services at peak times it would be difficult to timetable express limited stop services

      • Paul D says:

        The main problem with that is how is the fast ‘Express’ tram going to over take the slower ‘Stopping’ tram? If it can’t pass it can’t go any faster so all you do is upset the passengers on board who were expecting a faster service and upset potential passengers who watch it crawl past the stops it doesn’t stop at…

  3. Kev says:

    Express Trams? In my experience of Midland Metro there are a large number of riders using most stops in rush hour so you would have hardly anyone on the trams as they would all be left at stops!

  4. Chris Rose says:

    If the Wolverhampton metro extension were to be routed from St Georges along Market Street, Princess Street, into Lichfield Street and along Railway Drive it would be more beneficial than the route along Pipers Row. Plus trams would still call at St Georges.

  5. Tony Sullivan says:

    Apropos extensions I would have thought that as the extension from Bull Street to Stephenson Street has not yet been completed and the route of the proposed extension to Curzon Street and Deritend has been agreed the pointwork at the junction of Bull Street and Corporation Street could have been put in place now to avoid disruption to services at a later date. This type of work has been carried out in the past in anticipation of new routes at a later date. I understand that Blackpool has done such work in readiness for the extension to North Station. It was also done in Brighton at Five Ways for a proposed extension down Davigdor Road to Hove – although in this case the route was never completed.

  6. Patrick says:

    I understand the Metro will run along Piper’s Row and then turn right onto the station approach over the bridge. This is likely to cause extensive traffic problems as the bridge is heavily used by taxis and cars particularly at times of intercity arrivals and departures. How do they propose to deal with this problem?

    • Anonymous says:

      It would appear from the map published on the CENTRO website that the plan is to prohibit all traffic on Railway Drive and create an access to the car park and a drop off zone from Corn Hill. I don’t know Wolverhampton that well other than from visits by train and then the walk over to St Georges for the tram so can’t comment as to whether this will be satisfactory.

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