City centre tram extension going well

Commuters will be taken into the centre of the Colmore Row business area next to the towering, glass offices of The Wesleyan building near the headquarters of West Midlands Police.

Work is under way to link the existing Wolverhampton to Birmingham Midland Metro line as part of a project to improve links with the Black Country and the centre of Birmingham.

Tracks have recent been laid along one side of Corporation Street as part of the £128 million project with work continuing on the links around Colmore Row.

As part of the scheme workers are also extending the depot at Wednesbury to accommodate the 20 new trams that will also be provided as part of this project.

A long term goal for the extension includes extending the line from Wolverhampton's current Bilston Street terminus, opposite the city's police station, past the bus station in Pipers Row and along Railway Drive, where it will go past the car park towards Wolverhampton train station.

One of the main focuses of the works at this stage centre on connecting the Metro at Snow Hill station to the Colmore Gate area of Birmingham.

Contractors have been on site excavating sections of the road in between the office buildings to make room for the tracks to be laid.

Pavements were removed and areas cordoned off as workers brought in diggers as part of the task started earlier this year.

The outline of the routes have begun to take shape, as these new picture reveal, with sweeping tracks snaking through the buildings.

Bull Street has already been transformed with tree lined pavements and bus stops and shelters now gone to make way for the excavation project.

Tracks will link the street with tracks on a section already cleared by workers close to The Wesleyan office building where a public square was originally.

Works to join the tracks running through Colmore Gate to the top of Corporation Street near House of Fraser will take place to bring shoppers into the heart of the city.

Work over the last 12 months has been done by the utility companies to remove their pipes and cables from underneath the route of the tram way.

This will allow construction contractors Balfour Beatty to create the tram route and stops.

Working in sections, engineers plan to construct the route in stages.

First working on one side of the road, then the other side and finally the pavements in sections of around 650ft at a time.

They will build the tram route and stop areas then return to the areas to install the overhead cables and stop infrastructure.

In January next year the scheme will move to finishing tracks at the bottom of Corporation Street near the entrance to New Street station.

The project will see trams return to Birmingham city centre streets for the first time in over 60 years.

The Metro extension, a joint project by Centro and the Black Country and Birmingham City councils, is expected to create more than 1,300 new jobs and boost the regional economy by more than £50 million a year.

Centro say these plans would play a significant role in supporting some of the major redevelopment work taking place in the city which will bring about an extra £2 billion for the economy and create up to 40,000 jobs.

Centro, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive, delivers transport projects while working with bus, rail and tram operators on services and infrastructure for passengers.

Major infrastructure projects are now headed up by a leaders of West Midlands councils who now look at budgets for schemes and long-term strategic projects.

Chairman of the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority, Councillor Roger Lawrence, said: "The Midland Metro has a key role to play in providing the transport connections we need to help our region grow and prosper.

"That's why the introduction of these new trams and the forthcoming extensions are such good news for the economy as well as for passengers who can now look forward to a more frequent and comfortable service."

Plans for a second extension of the Midland Metro line onto Centenary Square and Broad Street have now been submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport.

It is hoped the city centre extension would provide passengers with a stop right at the heart of some of Birmingham's key destinations like the new £188 million library, the NIA and the ICC.

Trams could run from the new stop on Stephenson Street outside New Street Station before travelling along Pinfold Street, Victoria Square, Paradise Street and Broad Street before terminating at Centenary Square.