Over the past few months there has been plenty of construction work going on to extend the West Midlands Metro network with excellent progress being made on phase two of the Birmingham Westside line along with the starting of work on the Brierley Hill line. But throughout all this the extension to Wolverhampton Railway Station has remained dormant waiting for the completion of the general redevelopment of the station – until now that is! It has now been confirmed that works will resume this spring and summer and this will include the laying of the last sections of track up to the railway station.
The construction works will resume as soon as Monday 15th March and will concentrate on works to extend the footpath along Bilston Street. This will see one lane closed to traffic with pedestrians advised to follow a short diversion via the subway.
There will then be further work throughout the spring and summer which will include finishing works along Pipers Row and work at St George’s Parade. In both cases temporary changes to traffic flow will be necessary and more details will be revealed in due course of this.
Paul Brown, Midland Metro Alliance Construction Director, said: “Our return to Wolverhampton to complete the final stages of construction for the Metro extension signals a really important step in the project and I am delighted that these works are now getting underway. When complete, the Wolverhampton City Centre Metro extension will provide a much-needed boost to public transport by allowing people to easily change between train, tram and bus. We do appreciate that our works can cause disruption and we will continue to work closely with the City of Wolverhampton Council, Wolverhampton Business Improvement District and our partners at Transport for West Midlands to minimise impact wherever possible.”
The Wolverhampton City Centre extension leaves the current line just before the terminus at St George’s running along Piper’s Row and then onto the railway station. There will be two new stops constructed – one at the bus station on Piper’s Row and the other adjacent to the railway station. No exact date has been given for when services may commence although the Midland Metro Alliance website still says there is a hope that trams may start during 2021.