Thursday 21st September 2023
It may be four years late, missed last year’s Commonwealth Games and cost £50 million, but the 600 yards extension to the West Midlands Metro tram route to a new terminus at Wolverhampton railway station finally opened to passengers on Sunday.
Although it’s not too far to walk between the two, the tram also now connects the railway station with the bus station where the second tram stop on the new extension has been conveniently installed on Pipers Row, the road alongside the bus departure bays and passenger waiting area.
The new extension then joins existing long established tram tracks a bit further south beyond the bus station in Bilston Street alongside the County Court, making for a new junction there.
I understand the plan is for trams from Edgbaston Village via Birmingham and West Bromwich to continue either to the original terminus at nearby St Georges or to Wolverhampton station, alternately. However for the next few weeks all trams are terminating at the railway station while work takes place on the short stretch of original track to St Georges to facilitate the new pattern of alternate journey working.
With an overall daytime ten minute frequency that gives the station what it needs, ie a “turn-up-and-go” frequency on the tram. I’m not sure the long term arrangement for a 20 minute frequency (when alternate trams return to St Georges) is going to be particularly appealing but I may have misread the plan as Sophie Allison, interim managing director of West Midlands Metro has said “with two new stops and services every 10 minutes to and from the station, this latest extension to our tram network is set to deliver a wealth of benefits for both new and existing customers.”
So I’m not sure what the plan is for St Georges.
Meanwhile City of Wolverhampton Council director of resident service, John Roseblade, said “extending the Metro to the very front door of our new railway station is part of ensuring our award-winning Interchange project delivers the very best gateway to our city for all modes of transport. It is all part of how we are reimagining our city centre and better connecting passengers to events and venues like the newly-opened The Halls Wolverhampton, Grand Theatre and art gallery.”
As part of this enhancing the ‘gateway to the city’, Wolverhampton railway station itself was given a £150 million makeover – including a completely new station building which does look very smart indeed and a great improvement on what went before.
The newly laid dual tracks to and from the station merge into a single platform …
… about 75 yards from the entrance/exit to the station.
I was surprised there’s only a single platform as although current arrangements don’t require a second one, I would have thought as part of the overall “Wolverhampton interchange project” which included the new railway station building, it would have made sense to include a second tram platform, especially as there are two at the recently opened Edgbaston Village terminus at the other end of the route.
The “Wolverhampton Interchange project” was a “scheme to create a state of the art transport interchange in Wolverhampton City Centre, providing a new hub for rail, tram and bus services, together with a mixed-use commercial development offering retail outlets, leisure facilities and public space.”
The scheme had been in the planning and implementation for over a decade and included a newly designed bus station, a redeveloped multi-storey car park, a major upgrade to the railway station and a new four storey office building.
Everyone involved must be relieved it’s all finally over and completed now the trams are running to their new terminus.
Next up for the Metro is an extension from half way along the route at Wednesbury south west to Brierley Hill …
… and in Birmingham city centre a short branch to the new HS2 station at Curzon Street (assuming that doesn’t get cancelled in the “Autumn Statement”!), Digbeth and High Street, Deritend.
The latest available information on these extensions are the first phase of the Brierley Hill scheme to Dudley town centre “is expected to open for passenger services in 2024. The second phase to Brierley Hill will be completed at the earliest opportunity.” The Digbeth and Deritend extension is pencilled in for opening in 2027.
Roger French
Blogging timetable: TThS
Comments are welcome but please keep them relevant to the blog topic and add your name (or an identifier). Thank you.
BusAndTrainUser 
Given how short the branch to Stv George’s is, it looks like it might make more sense to run all trams to St George’s then reverse and up to the railway station (although if they’ve only built the junction as a Y and not a triangle then obviously that won’t be physically possible) – especially if the overall frequency on the line is only every 10 minutes then the small time penalty for running into St George’s and back out would be a small price to pay for not having 20 minute gaps in the service.
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The railway inspectorate will not allow us to do a reverse turn therefore WMM will naturally use St George’s & Bus & Rail Interchange alternatively. I can also confirm from next month trams will be increased to every 7 mins in frequency on weekday daytimes
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Having been near Dudley Castle yesterday at the Innovation Centre, they were busy, despite the poor weather, doing works on the line and I walked (legally) across the new track (a designated route has been set up to the car park). It’s alignment there is fairly level with the road as it goes by the Station Hotel. The previous alignment in this area, for the old BR Line, is a lot lower and is now used as a test track by the Innovation Centre.
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As part of the WMM the existing Dudley Bus Station is to be demolished and a new facility to built on the existing site to allow bus & metro Interchange. I was onsite yesterday in Dudley to witness the process on the extention
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How much???????
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Much of the original funding project came from the EU the later stages have been funded by WMCA with support from H M GOVERNMENT and have been judged value for money by NAO. Like the Sandwell Aquatic Centre the WMM has been fully championed by Andy Street CBE Mayor of West Midlands Combined Authority to get the project finally delivered. Its interesting this blog has dropped today I am just off to a breakfast meeting with Mr Streets team to discuss WMM.
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Latest devolution of powers to the West Midlands Combined Authority is said to include funding for the Dudley-Brierley Hill section of the Metro which was put on hold.
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The devolution deal continues provision for the extension to continue to Brierley Hill. This section has never been on hold by WMCA however the section from Brierley Hill to Stourbridge is. The comment about the Brierley Hill section being on hold was made erroneously by the now discredited Birmingham City Council. Mr Street was pivotal in ensuring the funding for the section between Dudley & Brierley Hill was contained in the Spring Devolution Deal to WMCA
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How an earth was a business case made for that £50M and 4 years late for just 600M of track. Factor in the lost fares revenues over 4 years and presumably the cost will be even higher
Why was the cost so high? Why was it so late? It does not look to be a particularly complex project
They must be hoping for some pretty impressive passenger numbers. A problem i though that passenger numbers at the station are in steep decline. Passenger numbers peaked in 2018/9 at 5.3M but are now down to 3.45M
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The problem I have is the level of priority tram users have over bus users. In Birmingham buses have been pushed to the edge of the city centre for the benefit of the very few areas of the city that have access to the tram.
How the cost can be justified for such a small proportion of public transport users, let alone the general population, is beyond me. Given the recent comments from the WM mayor on the profligate spending of Birmingham City Council (which may well be correct), it is amazing the percentage overrun in this project,
Recently public transport projects have been going even more over budget than usual, so it would not surprise me if the DfT add in a much larger optimism bias to any future funding rounds.
Gareth Cheeseman
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This is obviously not the Birmingham City Centre I work in. The only roads buses were removed from were Corporation Street ; Hagley Rd services were moved to the adjoining Colmore Row while Stratford Rd services went to Carrs Lane; and Bull Street ; Sutton Lines went to the adjoining Square Peg; its nonesene to suggest buses have been moved to the periphery all services now depart from dedicated hubs linked by WMM. Bus access is a priority to the City Centre and most services still stop by the key shopping areas.
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The project was of course held up momently by the Covid-19 pandemic. All business have seen thier cost base significantly increase since and WMM was actually project managed very well by WMCA in very difficult circumstances. I am not a big fan of WMM but it serves its role well on making public transport more attractive between the two cities.
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Whilst it looks very nice in the photos this project seems to have been going on for ever! No way should 600m be 4 years late and cost so much. The problem here is that this country “lost” all its tramway knowledge and turned to railway engineers who didn’t/don’t have the skills, resulting in massively over engineered construction. Compare that there are 29 tramways in France, a country that also got rid of all its trams bar a couple after WW2. French tramways can be proposed and delivered within a single mayoral electoral term, usually leading to reelection.
Also, the Light Rail Transit Association has an extensive knowledge base on tramway construction from the legacy UK systems, plus knowledge of contemporary European construction standards. But the railway engineers of UK tramways knew best.
Peter Brown
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In other news, the public inquiry into the Edinburgh trams fiasco, itself almost as massively delayed and proportionally over-budget as the tram scheme, has finally reported.
A quick glance at media reports suggests it’s come to the utterly Unsurprising conclusion that Tie, the company building the scheme, was basically incompetent and that politicians at all levels caused problems by constantly interfering.
I’m sure the millions wasted, sorry, spent on that public inquiry couldn’t have been usefully used elsewhere. (rolls eyes)
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Yes it was a monumentally badly managed project.
Peter Brown
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All that money spent and passengers are left with a 75 yard open air walk between the tram stop and railway station! At least I suppose it is still closer than the entrance to the car park and bus station, but so frustrating that the tram will be creeping past the front of the station (and briefly holding up everyone else trying to cross the station forecourt at the same time).
Steven Saunders
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The whole project has been a costly white elephant. The West Midlands equivalent of HS2.
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HS2 IS actually West Midlands based project as it commences in Curzon Street though where it will terminate in London initially who knows? There is no way WMM is now a White Elephant it carries heavy loads between the two Cities. The service is being increased to a 7 min frequency because in the peaks the trams are so well used passengers are unable to board at intermediate stations. I use it with my mates every Saturday to Hawthorns for home matches & outside the fotty hours the service is heaving. Additionally supporters get thier own dedicated duplicate service at full time. If you actually use the service in no manner would you describe it now as a ” White Elephant ” .
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And to think that Wolverhampton was an early trolleybus pioneer – 100 years ago on 29 October 1923. We need to start calling them trackfree trams. They can do the same work at much lower cost and far more work at the same cost.
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The current NXWM 1 provides a far better service today between Dudley & Wolverhampton than WCT 58 did. Trolleybuses are viewed thru rose coloured spectacles and wood not cope with modern challenges of road use & associated roadside developments. Until recently the service between Dudley & Wolverhampton was operated by high quality hybrids anyway which were recently reneging mid life by NXWM.
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Modern trolleybuses can far more easily cope with moderrn conditiond than trams and can be deployed quickly and at much lower cost
Every new tram systerm deployefd in the UK has gobe several times over buddey and been dlivered several years later. All make huge annual lossess
Will the 600 metres of track ever cover its costs ?
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Would modern Trolleybuses be a better solution? . There are a lot of modern trolley bus systems abroad and quite a bit of development work is going on with them. They are a lot lower cost than trams and a lot quicker to implement and a lot more efficient and lower cost
Sone systems use overhead lines in the busy central sections and run on batteries on the outer section ,meaning smaller batteries are needed which keep the weight down which keeps the efficiency high
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I personally would not expect West Midlands Metro to make operating profits as its a public sector operation subsidised from a Levy placed on the council tax in the West Midlands Combined Authority. The cost & amount of kit & Street furniture for a Trolleybus operation would be far in excess of any operational benefit the way forward here in Brum is the hybrid Sprint project.
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I’m looking forward to seeing the new Sprint BRT in service.
Peter Brown
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Phase 1 construction work has been completed on time and within budget and & Phase 2 construction work has now commenced on Sprint
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It would however be nice if the West of England could have a metro mayor with a can do attitude like Andy Burnham and Andy Street. All my adult life Bristol has been talking about metros and trams while others have been delivering.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-66889331.amp
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We are very lucky in Brum to have had a very pro public transport Mayor with Andy Street CBE ; Andy went to school in Edgbaston; he has revolutionised both bus and tram travel here the transformation from Cento to Transport for West Midlands has been remarkable we have the expanded metro network, one ticket for all bus operators, a large fleet of electric and hydrogen buses & infrastructure that includes full up to date timetable information on every stop together with a 1 stop shop app. Andy thru WMCA has secured funding that guarantees the current level of frequency will continue on all services until the end of 2024 & finally I am very privileged to have such an inspirational figure as a very good friend.
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What Bristol needs is a rail link to the Airport. Bristol Airport is the main regional airport for the West Country and much of South Wales. It is crazy that it does not have a rail link
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Understand Covid “delayed” things, but £50,000,000 for such a short stretch of track. Heaven help us if they decide to put in a second platform at the Station….. And why are other parts of Birmingham soon to be compressed into ghastly standee buses on the “Sprint” network whilst others get Trams at a huge cost increase? Neither very comfortable but “fashionable”
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I suggest you refer to our local transport plan for the methodology of our local transport delivery plan for Bus , Metro, Sprint & Rail.
https://www.tfwm.org.uk/who-we-are/our-strategy/local-transport-plan/
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However funded and regardless of Covid-19 £50,000,000 for 600m of track inset into roadway, a junction to the existing tram track and three raised platforms ( I presume two on Pipers Row for the bus station ) leaves me lost for words.
While 75m is not far for those who are physically fit I too do not see why the tram platform is not closer. From the Google Maps aerial view why instead could the double tracks not have ended where they start to sharply curve, two platforms built and a track cross-over arrangement along Railway Drive so a tram could arrive and depart from either platform ? With the current arrangement I presume that while the extension is all double track an arriving tram can not unload if the platform is already occupied.
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Roger has posted recently about new stations around the country. I thought it would be interesting to compare with how this is done in The Netherlands.
Peter Brown
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It was decided early on in the project where the service would terminate after long discussions with Wolverhampton City Council & Network Rail due to the complex ownership methodology of the site. As an armchair critic using photographic evidence I would suggest you actually use the service as delieverd. Meeting some mates in Spoons today I actually used WMM to its new terminus & the site is operating a very sucessfully. The enhancement to a weekday daytime frequency of 7nins shortly is very welcome & the project has been delivered and is in use to the benefit of Bus , Train & Metro users. As ever its unfortunate those seek to be quite nastily critical of an enhancement to public transport in the West Midlands which has been opened after a very difficult construction project in totally adverse circumstances. Yet again another large public infrastructure project has been delivered by Andy Street CBE following the Edgbaston Village extension & Sandwell Aquatic Centre with the Dudley Metro extension to come & I for one welcome these wholeheartedly.
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@rbjtasb4f994b035
The original cost at the time of approval in 2016 is stated as £18,000,000.
Reference
https://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/midland-metro-extension-to-wolverhampton-approved.
Even that seems a lot of money. Regardless of the Covid epidemic an increase of around 275% still leaves me both lost for words and wondering how any future publicly funded projects can go ahead.
Specific to the Metro calling what ought to have been a straightforward extension of 600m and three raised platforms a ‘large public infrastructure project’ is beyond stretching terminology.
Stephenson street along Broad Street Edgbaston Village and Wednesbury to Dudley then maybe on to Brierley Hill are both a ‘large public infrastructure project’.
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David Cameron was still Prime Minister in 2016 , we hadn’t had a Global Pandemic, had the financial turmoil of Brexit or a war in Europe.
Anyone who thinks a project costed nearly a decade ago would come in on budget by 2023 is either living on another planet or has no grasp of civil engineering. The National Audit Office has NO problems with the project END OF DISCUSSION.
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