A MAP showing an outline route of a tram line to go between Solihull and Birmingham City Centre has been revealed.
The new illustrated view shows the line travelling out of Digbeth to Bordesley Green, on to Chelmsley Wood, to the airport and NEC and ending up at the HS2 interchange station in Arden Cross.
Funding for the project – which will start Birmingham’s huge Sports Quarter regeneration project – has been made available to the West Midlands Combined Authority as part of a £2.4billion Government boost to the West Midlands transport network.
The funding follows talks between the Government, the Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, and Birmingham City FC owner Tom Wagner whose Knighthead company is poised to inject billions of pounds into the area as part of his Sports Quarter project.
The Sports Quarter project is a new 60,000 seat stadium for Birmingham City FC which will be built on the Birmingham Wheels site in Bordesley.
Alongside it will be a sports campus of training facilities, a new academy, and community pitches, all served by a direct Metro tram route.
The East Birmingham Metro to North Solihull Metro Extension is said to not not only provide fans with a connection between the city centre and new stadium but also improve travel connections for local people, opening up new job, leisure and learning opportunities.
Mr Parker said: “This funding means we can now deliver a new Metro line to the Sports Quarter – connecting it to Birmingham city centre and unlocking one of the most significant private investments our region has ever seen.
“But this is just the beginning. This investment unlocks a nationally significant infrastructure project that will transform East Birmingham and North Solihull into one of the UK’s key growth corridors – driving thousands of new homes and jobs and bringing opportunity to communities that have been held back for too long.”
The line is also expected to be the catalyst for £3bn of wider investment, delivering more than 1,500 new homes and creating over 8,000 jobs.
Midland Metro Alliance, a consortium of design experts and rail construction specialists, said the extension to Solihull could ‘unlock around £10billion of private investment, 55,000 new jobs and 7,700 homes helping to tackle the area’s long-standing inequalities’.
Councillor Karen Grinsell, leader of Solihull Council, said: ” The West Midlands Metro tram extension is going to be at least heading in the right direction for Solihull.
“The news that funding has been confirmed to extend the line out as far as the proposed new Blues ground and sports quarter is good for us, as it paves the way for the next phase of the plan, bringing much-needed improvements to connectivity between North Solihull, Birmingham Airport and the UK Central Hub.
“This will link our residents to jobs, healthcare and transport.
“I want to see, and we need to see, those plans developed at pace, to make sure that the opportunity is not lost. I’ll be pushing for this and making sure that the people of North Solihull get to share in the benefits of this investment.”
