You may be forgiven for thinking I’m sure I’ve heard that approved before, and you’d probably be right, but the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Board have recently given approval for sections 3 and 4 of the Birmingham Eastside West Midlands Metro extension. Said in a lot of media reports to be linked to Birmingham City FC’s new ground and larger sports complex, this is actually just a previously approved section of the line already under construction, but its hoped by its approval it will give confidence for a future major expansion further eastwards.
You may not have been aware but the Eastside extension – which is just 1.7km in length – is actually split into five different sections:
- Section 1: Delta Junction-Dale End (Lower Bull Street) – work is completed on this section
- Section 2: Dale End-Park Street (Albert Street/Moor Street Queensway) – work underway and due to be finished this year
- Section 3: Park Street-New Canal Street (Curzon Street Station)
- Section 4: New Canal Street-Meriden Street
- Section 5: Meriden Street-Digbeth High Street – work is completed on this section
Although the full business case was approved in February 2020, during 2023 the WMCA Board were warned that there would likely be a requirement for extra funding to complete the entire route. And now a refreshed business case has been presented and approved by the Board. This will see £107 million released, including £62 million fast-tracked by Mayor of West Midlands, Richard Parker.
As things stand trams should start running in sections 1 and 2 either late 2025 or early 2026 with work to build a temporary terminus at Clayton Hotel underway. During 2026 its expected that the area around Curzon Street will be handed over by HS2 to Midland Metro Alliance to allow construction work in section 3 to commence. Section 4 should see work starting later this year.
It is hoped that this investment will help to unlock plans for the future which would see further extensions to the east, serving Birmingham City’s planned new ground as well as various other facilities along with residential, commercial and leisure developments.