http://www.modern-railways.com April 2019 Modern Railways 13
News Front
MIDLAND METRO EXTENSION DELAY
THE WEST Midlands Metro
extension linking Bull Street with
Digbeth will not be completed
in time for the 2022 Birmingham
Commonwealth Games, it has been
announced. Whilst the 1.7km line was
originally scheduled for completion in
November 2022, it had been hoped
that work could be brought forward
to enable services to begin running
in time for the major sporting event
that summer. Delays in the planning
process, which involves a connection
into the existing Line 1 at Bull Street,
may even mean that the original
target date may also be missed.
With an estimated budget of
£152.2 million, this short section
of the planned line to Solihull and
Birmingham Airport via the NEC
will serve four new stops at Albert
Street, New Canal Street (for the
new HS2 station), Meriden Street
and High Street Deritend (the site
of Birmingham coach station).
During questions at a meeting
of the West Midlands CombinedAuthority’s Transport Delivery
Committee, project director for
Midland Metro Phil Hewitt was
asked about the possibility of
the line being open in time for
the Commonwealth Games. He
explained that the start date forconstruction depended on the
granting of powers for work to start
by the Government and that as this
had not yet happened there was
‘almost no chance’ of the original
opening date being advanced,
with ‘very little chance’ of theNovember 2022 target being met.
He added that the original timeline
was predicated on powers having
been granted in June 2018 and
that funding would be in place.
Mr Hewitt told the committee:
‘The powers have not been
awarded, and even if a decision was
made tomorrow the powers would
not be confirmed until the end of
March, which is a nine-month delay’.
The news follows reports in
July 2018 that the routes to Solihull
and Brierley Hill are forecast to
be ‘tens of millions of pounds’
over budget, with the WMCA
investment board being told by
Director of Finance Sean Pearce
that the projects were showing
‘cost pressures’. Last July the budget
for the Solihull route stood at
£675 million, whilst costs were
expected to reach £735 million,
and the Brierley Hill extension
from Wednesbury (budgeted at
£310 million) was forecast to cost
over £340 million. To ny MilesBLACK COUNTRY STATION DESIGNS UNVEILED
THE WEST Midlands Rail Executive
has released visuals of the
proposed new stations at Darlaston
and Willenhall on the Walsall to
Wolverhampton line.
The original stations closed
in 1965, and passenger services
on the line resumed in 1998 but
ceased a decade later. WMRE
and Transport for West Midlands
are now looking to reinstateservices on the line and aim to
cover the majority of costs from
the region’s HS2 Connectivity
Fund. It is anticipated there will
initially be an hourly service
between Wolverhampton and
Walsall stations and an hourly
service between Birmingham
New Street and Wolverhampton.
Willenhall station would be
sited next to the Bilston Streetrailway bridge close to the town
centre, while Darlaston would
be built on derelict land next
to the Kendricks Road bridge.
Both stations would feature two
platforms to accommodate six-car
trains, a footbridge, stairs and lifts,
ticket machines and customer
information systems, passenger
help points, pick-up and drop-off
areas and secure cycle storage.Both would have long-stay car
parks, with 300 spaces at Darlaston
and 150 spaces at Willenhall.
A consultation on the station
designs was launched on 4 March.
Following consultation, formal
planning applications will be
submitted during the summer
and it is hoped work can start
on site towards the end of 2020,
with trains running by 2022.Set for service restoration: design for Darlaston.Midland Metro: tram No 31 at Birmingham St Paul’s on 25 July 2018. John Whitehouse010-013_MR_Apr 2019_news.indd 13 12/03/2019 14: