Away from the high-profile lack of trams on the current West Midlands Metro there continues to be good progress on adding additional lines to the network in the future with the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension having recently hit another milestone. The 11km extension, due to open in 2023, has seen a concrete pour following on from the laying of the first new track in Dudley Town Centre.
It took eight hours to complete the concrete pour on Castle Hill, Dudley with six loads of concrete used. This follows on from the first track which was laid here earlier this year and marks another milestone in the project to return trams to this area of the Black Country.
Anne Shaw, Director of TfWM, said: “A lot of hard work has been undertaken here in Dudley to help deliver an interchange scheme that the town deserves, and it is fantastic to see the work for the Metro extension moving forward. It is all the more impressive that this activity continues to be safely delivered by the team on site with the challenging circumstances of the pandemic; with so much of the construction activity for this part of the route taking place during lockdowns.”
This extension of the West Midlands Metro will see at least 16 new stops added to the network (there are also plans for two provisional stops as well) and will leave the current line just to the east of Wednesbury Great Western Street stop and will then head through Tipton and Dudley on its way to Brierley Hill. Much of the line will be on an old railway alignment although this section in Dudley will feature on street running.
Work on Castle Hill will continue this year with it due to move over to the other side of the road later in 2022.
Tom Mablethorpe, Midland Metro Alliance Project Director, said: “It was brilliant to celebrate a real-step forward for this project with last week’s concrete pour in Dudley and a similar pour for a structure in Sandwell. The team at both sites continue to work extremely hard to deliver this extension and I am sure that those in both Sandwell and Dudley will be excited to see the continued progress.”
- There has been no further official update from West Midlands Metro this week on the repairs to the trams, required as a result of the discovery of cracks. Work does continue at Wednesbury Depot with a view to having at least 12-15 trams available by the end of May for services to resume. Meanwhile, there have been further tests of the second phase of the Birmingham Westside extension during the week with both 37 and 43 having been seen out of depot at times.
Taken from a passing bus this view shows the rails down on Castle Hill. (Photograph by Mark Cufflin, 8th April 2022)