The public have the chance to find out more about the extension of the Midland Metro in Wolverhampton. The Midland Metro Alliance, which will be building the 0.7km extension, will be holding a series of information sessions in the city centre.
Work is scheduled to begin on the extension in autumn 2016 with the relocation of underground utilities such as pipes and cables.As part of this some low-level exploratory works will start on Monday August 6.The Midland Metro Alliance is a team of planning, design and construction specialists working on behalf of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to expand the Metro network over the coming decade.
The work will be overseen by the authority’s transport delivery committee (TDC).
Cllr Roger Horton, lead member for rail and Metro on the TDC, said: “The expansion of the Metro in Wolverhampton is going to be great news for the future prosperity of the city. “These information events are a great opportunity for people to come along and find out for themselves exactly what is going to be happening.”
The sessions are:
· Saturday 6 August, 11am – 3pm, Wolverhampton Bus Station
· Tuesday 9 August, 9.30pm – 12.30pm, Wolverhampton Railway Station
· Tuesday 9 August, 1pm – 4pm, St George’s Metro Stop
· Wednesday 10 August, 10am – 4pm, Queen’s Street, Wolverhampton
The Wolverhampton extension is scheduled to open in 2019. It will consist of a of twin and single track running departing from the existing Metro line at Bilston Street junction, running along Pipers Row before turning onto Railway Drive and continuing to a terminus at the train station.The scheme will include new stops in both directions directly outside the bus station on Pipers Row and a terminus outside Wolverhampton railway station.
The extension forms part of the £120 million Wolverhampton Interchange Project, a major mixed use regeneration project to extend the multi-storey car park and construct a new railway station.The scheme will deliver more than 1,500 jobs and improve transport links for the people of Wolverhampton and the Black Country as a whole.
Over the next 10 years the Alliance will also extend the Metro throughout Birmingham city centre to link up with the proposed HS2 railway terminus at Curzon Street, and out to Birmingham Airport. A business case is also being prepared to extend it from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill.
ENDS
More information from Mark Langford, West Midlands Combined Authority Media Officer on 0121 214 7278, mobile 07824626952.
