In Pictures: Brierley Hill West Midlands Metro extension

Over the past few months we have featured photos from three different West Midlands Metro extensions – the Birmingham Westside, Birmingham Eastside and Wolverhampton City Centre lines. But they are not the only extensions are being worked on as there is also the line from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill which is due to open in 2023.

This extension is the longest of the four currently being built with it due to run for 11km from just to the east of the current Wednesbury Great Western Street stop to Brierley Hill via Tipton and Dudley. There will be at least 16 stops (with the possibility of a further two) with locations such as Dudley Castle, the Black Country Living Museum and Merry Hill Shopping Centre to be served. Work is underway to see whether sections could be built without overhead wires and a new depot will be needed to accommodate the extra trams needed for the service.

Initial work is now underway with much of it seeing utility diversions and the replacement of ageing infrastructure such as bridges. Some of the route will be on the route of the former South Staffordshire railway line.

One of the areas where work has started is on Castle Hill in Dudley where utility diversions are underway. This work may be delayed in the future as there will be demolition work of the old Hippodrome Theatre which is expected to take 8-10 weeks in this vicinity.

Looking both ways on Castle Hill at the utility diversion work. These images were taken from the access path across the road which has yet to be worked on. (All Photographs by Dave Jones, 19th August 2021)

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1 Response to In Pictures: Brierley Hill West Midlands Metro extension

  1. David says:

    I am sorry to read that the Hippodrome will be demolished. It is quite a landmark in the area and a campaign has been going on to try to save it.

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