The transport secretary visited the West Midlands on Thursday ‘to begin work’ on a £295m West Midlands Metro extension, her department said.
Officials said that Heidi Alexander was in the region ‘to put spades in the ground on the extension of the West Midlands Metro tram network in the Black Country’.
However, the first (Wednesbury to Dudley town centre) phase of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension is actually 'already well underway and due to open to passengers in Autumn of this year’, as the Department for Transport confirmed
Image: Department for Transport
The Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension, known as Line 2, was planned and launched under Tory metro mayor Andy Street.
In 2022, as a result of rising construction costs and reduced fare income during the COVID 19 pandemic, the board of the West Midlands Combined Authority decided to split the extension in two phases.
Construction of the full line will cost £655m (£361m for phase 1 and £294m for phase 2), with phase 2 being funded through the Government’s £1bn City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement for the West Midlands.
Despite the work of her predecessors, Ms Alexander, who only came into office in November, said: ‘We’re turning the tide on poor transport connections in the West Midlands and delivering a transport system that people can rely on, raising living standards across the region.
‘The extension of the West Midlands Metro will be transformational and I am delighted to officially mark the start of work today as this Government gets on with supporting local jobs and business while empowering local leaders to deliver our Plan for Change.’
Officials said Ms Alexander met West Midlands mayor Richard Parker and was given a tour of Parkhead Viaduct in Dudley – a 19th century structure that will come back into use as part of the Metro route.
According to the Midlands Metro Alliance, work on Parkhead Viaduct, which is part of the second phase that Ms Alexander claims to be marking ‘the start of work’ on, is ‘nearing completion’.
Mr Parker, who ousted Mr Street at an election last May, claimed to have ‘secured the funding from Government’.
He said: ‘With the first phase nearly complete, the Metro is already creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and attracting investment to the area, and soon it will take those same opportunities into Dudley and Merry Hill.’
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