New tram line will boost Dudley's economy, says transport secretary
The Midland Metro will play a 'transformative' role in regenerating Dudley and the Black Country, said Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander as she inspected progress on the new line.
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Miss Alexander visited Parkhead Viaduct, about a mile from Dudley town centre, on Thursday (February 6) to officially launch the £295 million second phase of the West Midlands Metro tram extension.
The second phase will run from Dudley town centre to the Merry Hill shopping centre, via the Waterfront office park.
Earlier in the day the minister visited the Black Country Living Museum, where she heard how the first section - between Wednesbury and Dudley town centre - would boost visitor numbers when it opens later this year.
Miss Alexander said she had been hugely impressed with the museum, and hoped the link would make it easier for visitors to Birmingham to take the attraction in.
She said the museum had a target of attracting 500,000 visitors a year, but at the moment 90 per cent of these arrived by car.
"For the first time communities in Dudley and Brierley Hill are going to have a direct tram connection into the West Midlands Metro, which will allow people to get directly into Birmingham, into Wolverhampton, that means shorter journey times, better connections better access to jobs, education opportunities," she said.
