PHILIP SHERRATT REVIEWS PROGRESS WITH PLANS TO EXPAND THE LIGHT RAIL NETWORK
At the end of May, the West Midlands’ light rail system turned 20 years old. Now rechristened as West Midlands Metro as part of a wider rebranding of the region’s public transport offer, in 20 years’ time the network is likely to look very different, with major plans for expansion now taking shape.
The first extension of the original 20.4km line from Wolverhampton to Birmingham Snow Hill opened in two stages in December 2015 and May 2016, bringing trams back to the streets of Birmingham and linking to Grand Central, adjacent to New Street station. By the end of this year a further extension to Centenary Square is due to open, with plans afoot to more than double the system’s mileage by 2026.
With this expansion in mind, the Midland Metro Alliance was formed in July 2016 to plan, design and build future network extensions. The alliance comprises the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), the design consortium of Egis, Tony Gee and Pell Frischmann and contractor Colas Rail (supported by its partners Colas Ltd, Barhale, Bouygues UK and Auctus Management Group). The alliance has a five-year deal with the option of a further fiv…
