Bus services to get £81m boost with new vehicles and Merry Hill station
An £81 million transport masterplan that will see hundreds of new buses take to the streets across the West Midlands and a new bus station created at Merry Hill Shopping Centre was today unveiled.
London-style smartcards will also be introduced across the National Express West Midlands bus network.
This is part of a two-year agreement with transport authority Centro.
The money will also go towards more cleaning and up-to-date information at bus stops with screens detailing how long until the next service arrives.
The deal, which sees £65m of investment by National Express and £16m by Centro, will deliver: 300 new buses including 15 environmentally friendly hybrids; 350 new bus shelters; a new bus station at Merry Hill and refurbishments to Dudley bus station; smartcards; new infrastructure, shelters and information for Wolverhampton city centre; more 'talking buses' featuring audio visual equipment informing passengers of their next stop.
National Express chief executive Dean Finch and Centro chairman Councillor John McNicholas were signing the agreement today at Wolverhampton Bus Station, which was rebuilt at a cost of £22.5m and opened in 2011.
Councillor McNicholas said: "I am truly delighted and excited by the huge range of benefits it is going to bring to the passengers of the West Midlands."
Dean Finch, chief executive of National Express said: "We will build on the improvements we have already made in the West Midlands including investment in new vehicles and more on-bus cleaners as well as an expansion of smartcard ticketing."
"This partnership is great news for bus passengers in the West Midlands and I believe it will encourage more people to save money, time and stress by leaving the car at home and using the bus."
It comes at the same time as a new £40m fleet of trams is about to be shipped for use on the Midland Metro from a factory in Spain. Geoff Inskip, chief executive of Centro, said some of the money was due to be provided by private bus operators, as they would benefit from running the services on behalf of Centro. He added: "This will benefit all passengers on the bus network and it's good news to see £120m being invested in the public transport network."
The new £80m proposals come as 20 new trams are being built for the Midland Metro. They will initially be brought into use on the existing line from Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton St Georges.
They are being built by Spanish manufacturer CAF at its factory in Zaragoza. They are each larger than the current fleet of 16 trams, originally built in Italy.
