The Wolverhampton Railway Station extension of the West Midlands Metro has been another one of those sagas on a tramway in the British Isles where it has seemed every step forward is met with about five backwards. Slated to open on many different occasions, the last of which should have been spring 2023, these are all now in the past and so we still wait to find out when trams may start running on the line with no official update having come from Transport for West Midlands or the Midland Metro Alliance for some time. Whilst we wait this article takes another look at recent developments on the extension.
The extension runs for just 0.7km (which Google tells us is 0.43 miles) from a junction just before the original St George’s terminus along Piper’s Row and Railway Drive to a new terminus at the railway station. An intermediate stop on Piper’s Row at Wolverhampton Bus Station is also provided. The route is wired as far as the Bus Station with trams then running under battery power the remainder of the route.
The very end of the line at Wolverhampton Railway Station. Track is down but presumably there will some form of stop here in case of overruns. The railway station stop can be seen on the right complete with shelter.
This is the stop with the shelter in place.
Work being undertaken around the signal just outside the station.
A few bits of finishing work is needed around the tracks at the station as well. (All Photographs by Andy Walters, 7th July 2023)
After such a huge delay the result is a very paltry looking stop considering it is the terminus and transport hub.