Another week and another press release giving us details of more progress on a West Midlands Metro extension. This time its back to the Brierley Hill line (which is currently only funded to go as far as Dudley so does that make it more the Dudley line?!) where a significant concrete pour has taken place at the site of the former Staffordshire Railway corridor in Wednesbury.
The pour took more than seven hours to complete and will now enable construction to get underway on the structure which will link the existing line to the extension from where trams will be able to travel further through Sandwell to Dudley Town Centre. In total 580m3 of concrete was used in the pour.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Improving and expanding our public transport network is mission critical in order for our region to thrive in the months and years ahead. That’s why it’s good to see this scheme mark another key milestone. Once complete, the first phase of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension will offer people a quick and convenient travel option whether it’s for work or leisure in and around both Sandwell and Dudley. We must press ahead at pace so that local people can enjoy the benefits as soon as possible.”
Most of phase one of the Brierley Hill extension sits within the area of the former South Staffordshire railway corridor which was closed to rail traffic back in 1993. Work started on preparing it for trams in 2020, with over a mile of track cleared which in turn was donated to the Severn Valley Railway.
This is the third significant milestone for the route already this year. It comes after work getting underway on a major expansion of the depot and also the re-opening of Castle Hill in Dudley to two-way traffic following the completion of track installation.
Grace Hayward, Assistant Delivery Manager at Midland Metro Alliance, said: “There’s a lot of interest in our construction activity for this Metro route, and unlike activity taking place in Dudley, for example, much of the work here in Sandwell is not in the immediate view of the public. With this in mind we wanted to give those interested in the project a look at what we are delivering, including a bird’s eye view of the activity via drone footage.”