It may be a very long time before we can all enjoy a tram ride on the Birmingham Eastside extension (or at least the full route, it continues to be looked at to see if a partial route can be opened) but early June has seen more progress on the construction of the route. We say construction but what we are actually talking about is demolition as it is the parade of shops – which once included a McDonald’s – at King’s Parade, Dale End which has now been fully removed.
The demolition work at King’s Parade got underway in October 2022 and over the past eight months the structure has been razed to the ground with it standing in the way of the planned tram route. The Midland Metro Alliance – once again completing the work in behalf of Transport for West Midlands – now have plans to recycle the rubble produced by crushing it using specialist equipment and reusing it in other areas of the project.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “It’s good news that the demolition of the Kings Parade building has now been completed. Standing in the Dale End area, you can now see the route that the new line will take from the existing line at Bull Street. The removal of this building also paves the way for the wider regeneration of this part of the city centre – making it more attractive to investors, visitors and local residents alike.”
Maria Ion, Project Director, added: “We are proud to continue our construction activities in the city centre, in a responsible and sustainable way and with respect for our planet, people, stakeholders and local communities. We are 100 per cent committed to achieving our carbon footprint reduction targets. Implementing actions such as reusing the materials from the demolition are part of the wider plan to drive circular economy and reduce carbon emissions. This is another great milestone achieved on the project so well done to all the team who have worked extremely hard to achieve this.”
Work continues on the extension in the Lower Bull Street area and its planned that work here will be finished this summer with buses returning to the area at the end of July.
The complete Eastside extension will run for 1.7km between the junction of Bull Street and Corporation Street to Digbeth. It provides connections to both Birmingham Coach Station and the HS2 Station at Curzon Street. The HS2 station is causing a delay to the entire project as construction work in that vicinity can’t start until HS2 work is finished. As a result no opening date has been given yet for the complete line, although there is consideration being made of opening part of the route earlier.