Work on diverting utilities on the route of the West Midlands Metro Birmingham Eastside Extension to Digbeth via the HS2 station at Curzon Street is now underway with a water main on New Bartholomew Street being upgraded and future-proofed. To mark the occasion various local dignitaries, including Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street, visited the scene to see the works taking place.
The Birmingham Eastside extension is due to run for 1.7km and will leave the current Birmingham City Centre line at Bull Street running to Digbeth with four new tram stops being built. It is planned to cost £227 million and more than half of it is to be free of overhead wires and there will also be public realm upgrades for Digbeth High Street.
Andy Street said: “Major transport infrastructure projects are critical to helping our economy bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic. Guaranteeing significant work for the construction sector helps to both create and protect local jobs for local people, and I am therefore delighted that we’ve been able to press ahead with the Eastside extension with residents now starting to see work become more visible around the route. This scheme would not have been possible without significant funding coming from the Government earlier this year, and I want to thank both the Department for Transport and the Treasury for backing the West Midlands and our plans to make major changes to our public transport network after decades of under investment. This extension will not only connect the east and west of Birmingham by tram, but also provide a direct route for many across the Black Country to travel directly to the new Curzon Station for HS2. This is just one of three metro extensions that are currently underway, along with the re-opening of old railway lines and stations, a re-design of our cycling network, and the introduction of electric buses.”
Utility diversion work on the route started in the early autumn with works on Lower Bull Street, Digbeth High Street and High Street Deritend. This work has mainly been taking place overnight and is being completed alongside detailed design work for the extension.
Martin Gallagher, Project Director for the Birmingham Eastside extension, said: “Although many colleagues have been working remotely in recent months, activities for this extension project have continued on schedule along with important discussions with Transport for West Midlands and our construction team regarding scheduling further preliminary activities. Ultimately our aim is to develop the best tramway, in the most efficient way, for the city and people of Birmingham.”
There is no opening date announced because of the complexities of the work at the HS2 station on Curzon Street taking place in parallel and all parties will work together to come to a mutually convenient date for this section of the line to open.
It is planned that after this section of route opens it will be further extended to Solihull via Bordesley Green, Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham Airport, the NEC and the HS2 interchange station.