£13.9m bid for new rail service into Dudley

The modern railcar would transport millions of visitors from Dudley Port station, near Tipton, to the former station at the bottom of Castle Hill.

It is estimated it will cost around £27.8 million and an application for half of the cash has been submitted to the European Regional Development Fund.

Some of the money needed has already been secured with the rest expected to come from private investment.

The service would help tourists visit Dudley Zoo, the Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Canal Trust. There are also plans to then extend the light rail service towards Dudley bus station.

The scheme has been unveiled following a deal struck between Dudley Council and Warwick Manufacturing Group, which wants to use it as a pilot scheme for its next generation of railcars.

The group will open a multi-storey National Centre For Development of Very Light Rail Technology at the new station. Around 45 people would work at the site, overseeing the trial service and developing the technology.

It's hoped the passenger service could open within the next five years.

Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, cabinet member for regeneration, said: "We have now made a bid for £13.9million of funding through the European Regional Development Fund to fund half of the estimated £27.8m it will cost to make our exciting Very Light Rail innovation centre a reality.

"If successful, this money would supplement the £4.5m already offered through the Local Growth Fund which will leave us with £9.4million to find from third party private sector investors.

"The ERDF aspect of the scheme would support the creation of an innovation centre for this new technology while the wider scheme will also help bring Dudley back onto the national rail network by connecting the town back to Dudley Port."

The plans would see two tracks laid on a disused freight line from Dudley Port to the town with one used for the passenger service and the second for exclusive use by the tram developers.

The group and council have secured support from Centro. The Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Zoo have also backed the plan.

Councillor Ahmed has previously said that the scheme would not stop the council's aspiration for an extension of the Midland Metro service through Dudley to Brierley Hill, serving the Merry Hill shopping centre.

Dudley Train Station was closed to passengers around 60 years ago and the line to Dudley Port was then used as a freight line until the 1980s before being mothballed.