04.10.16
WMCA seeks DfT approval for £137m HS2 station tram extension
Proposals for an extension that will incorporate Birmingham’s HS2 station at Curzon Street into its tram network are due to be submitted to the DfT for approval.
At a meeting yesterday, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Transport Delivery Committee was asked to approve the submitting of an application for the Midland Metro Birmingham Eastside Extension (BEE) to transport secretary Chris Grayling.
The BEE will run services every six minutes from the junction of Bull Street and Corporation Street to a stop on Albert Street, which will serve the proposed Martineau Galleries Phase 2 development and the HS2 Curzon Street station west entrance.
The next stop, on New Canal Street, will be located under the station and serve its east entrance. It will then run to Meriden Street before terminating at High Street Digbeth.
The WMCA report estimates that the project will cost £137.2m. This sum includes £8.4m for preparatory works, £89.5m for the development work, and £29.5m for the seven new trams for the services, which will be procured as part of a network-wide “3rd Generation” new fleet.
The funding has already been allocated through the region’s 2014 Growth Deal and its Devolution Deal, of which £5.5m has already been provided to the WMCA.
Allowing for ‘optimism bias’, the WMCA says the project could cost up to £158.8m, with the extra money having to be raised locally.
It says the extension “will take Metro forward into a network operating mode, rather than the current single line operation” and requires interconnecting services between the Wolverhampton, Edgbaston and Eastside termini.
Under the proposals, the WMCA is currently anticipating a local public inquiry into objections to the project in spring 2017.
It admits that work on the project will cause a number of issues, including traffic disruption, noise, air pollution and greenhouse gas pollution. However, it says these will not be significant, and are outweighed by the project’s long-term benefits, including better links to HS2 and bus and coach services and a boost to the city’s economy and sustainable travel.
If the proposals are given the green light, the government order will come into force in spring 2018 and the WMCA will submit a final business case in the summer. Utility diversions will then begin in 2019 and the extension will open in 2023.
Phase 1 of HS2 is due to open in 2026, but a recent report from the National Audit Office warned that the high-speed rail project is already behind schedule and could miss its target date.
A new Midland Metro service from Bull Street to New Street station and the Grand Central shopping centre started running in May after being delayed due to safety concerns.
Grayling’s predecessor, Patrick McLoughlin, overruled objections by the planning inspector to allow the Midland Metro link between Birmingham New Street and Centenary Square to go ahead.
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