Plans to extend the Midland Metro through Birmingham city centre in a £137 million project have reached a new milestone.
A formal application has been submitted by the Midland Metro Alliance to build and operate the Birmingham Eastside extension from Bull Street to Digbeth.
If granted, the order will allow work to start on the 1.05 mile – 1.7km – extension which will serve the proposed HS2 station at Curzon Street offering connections to New Street, Moor Street and Snow Hill train stations. Work is due to begin in 2019 and the line to open in 2023.
The scheme will cost £137.2m. As well as linking all of the city centre railway stations, it will mean easy access to Birmingham coach station and to bus routes to the south east of the city centre.
Councillor Roger Lawrence, lead member for transport on the West Midlands Combined Authority, said: “The Birmingham Eastside extension will provide a direct high-quality link between the significant areas of commercial and leisure activity to the east of the city centre and the Jewellery Quarter and the Black Country.”
The route will start at the junction of Bull Street and Corporation Street and run along Lower Bull Street past the southern edge of the proposed Martineau Galleries re-development to Albert Street.
It will then cross Moor Street Queensway towards Curzon Street and continue to Meriden Street and turning left onto Digbeth High Street.
There will be four stops on the route.
The Midland Metro runs between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton city centre, serving stops including the Jewellery Quarter, West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Bilston. Work is now underway extending the route from New Street to Centenary Square, with services expected to start running in 2019.
Funding has also been earmarked for the line to go further along Broad Street, past Five Ways and on to Edgbaston by 2021.
In Wolverhampton work has begun on the city centre extension, with completion scheduled for 2019. A route linking Wednesbury to Brierley Hill is also being developed and work on this could start as early as next year.
If granted, the order will allow work to start on the 1.05 mile – 1.7km – extension which will serve the proposed HS2 station at Curzon Street offering connections to New Street, Moor Street and Snow Hill train stations. Work is due to begin in 2019 and the line to open in 2023.
The scheme will cost £137.2m. As well as linking all of the city centre railway stations, it will mean easy access to Birmingham coach station and to bus routes to the south east of the city centre.
Councillor Roger Lawrence, lead member for transport on the West Midlands Combined Authority, said: “The Birmingham Eastside extension will provide a direct high-quality link between the significant areas of commercial and leisure activity to the east of the city centre and the Jewellery Quarter and the Black Country.”
The route will start at the junction of Bull Street and Corporation Street and run along Lower Bull Street past the southern edge of the proposed Martineau Galleries re-development to Albert Street.
It will then cross Moor Street Queensway towards Curzon Street and continue to Meriden Street and turning left onto Digbeth High Street.
There will be four stops on the route.
The Midland Metro runs between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton city centre, serving stops including the Jewellery Quarter, West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Bilston. Work is now underway extending the route from New Street to Centenary Square, with services expected to start running in 2019.
Funding has also been earmarked for the line to go further along Broad Street, past Five Ways and on to Edgbaston by 2021.
In Wolverhampton work has begun on the city centre extension, with completion scheduled for 2019. A route linking Wednesbury to Brierley Hill is also being developed and work on this could start as early as next year.
Read more at http://www.expressandstar.com/news/transport-news/2016/10/07/midland-metro-new-milestone-for-137m-birmingham-hs2-tram-extension/#5YmBQ5HT7LmY1tmU.99