Glowing future for Wolverhampton bus station

Construction staff are working through the night to ensure Wolverhampton's new bus station is completed on schedule.

The £22.5million development is expected to be finished by the end of next month, although bosses are remaining tight-lipped on a definite opening date.

Workers at construction company Bam have been putting in shifts at all times of the day and night to make sure the station – the busiest terminus in the West Midlands – is delivered on time.

As part of the project, new lanes have been created on Ring Road St David's to allow buses to access the station from the dual carriageway. The new design of the station removes the risk to pedestrians who previously had to cross between bus stands in front of moving buses using zebra crossings.

And the entrance to the bus station from the ring road is the only way services will be able to get into it once it opens.

The old Pipers Row bus station closed in April last year.

The redevelopment has also seen a new two-storey building put up and the refurbishment of the landmark Queen's Building.

The new building has been let partly to Sainsbury's, which is going to create one of its Local brand of mini supermarkets. It will also be home to the Unite trade union and to a National Express West Midlands travel shop.

The Queen's Building, which used to be the old ticket office, will become a branch of newsagent and book shop WH Smith.

Next to the new two-storey building are the white temporary offices belonging to construction contractors Bam.

Developers Neptune eventually intend to build another new office block here and another on the car park which is the other side of Railway Drive, next to the landmark Chubb Buildings.