Work can officially start on four major transport projects in the West Midlands as part of a £1.3 billion investment programme.
BusinessLive reported last year how the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) secured £1 billion from the Government's City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement fund to transform the region's road, bus, tram, cycling and walking infrastructure.
The money, topped up with local funding, will deliver £1.3 billion investment over the next five years.
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Since then, WMCA leaders have drawn up a priority list of schemes to drive the decarbonisation of transport, target investment into areas of poor connectivity and support inclusive economic growth.
The programme has been developed by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), which is part of the WMCA, in close partnership with local councils.
Now the first four projects to benefit from the cash injection have been revealed.
They are:
- £24 million to seek sites for, plan and deliver a network of 10 electric vehicle charging stations across the West Midlands;
- £43 million to extend the West Midlands Metro depot at Wednesbury to service the region's growing tram fleet and network – including the extension to Dudley in 2024;
- £17 million to replace and upgrade the Metro power supply on the existing Wolverhampton to Birmingham line for the first time since it opened 22 years ago;
- £56 million to deliver phase two of the Sprint bus priority corridor with more bus lanes and junction upgrades along the full route between Solihull and Walsall.
The grant includes funding for the development of new bus lanes and priority routes, and around £254 million will go directly towards schemes which enable 'active travel' – the collective name for cycling and walking.
The Department for Transport (DfT) also confirmed that it has earmarked additional funding of up to £87.9 million towards the further development of the region's Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).
Anne Shaw, executive director of TfWM, said: "This is the largest single investment in our transport infrastructure and will deliver a wide range of projects across our region including bus priority routes, railway stations, safe cycle routes and electric vehicle charging facilities.
"We have, with our local authority partners and backed by Government, developed an investment programme which will support our targets of delivering a green transport revolution, to better connect our communities and support new jobs and housing."
