West Midlands Metro to Dudley

[DBNR]

With all the excitement of the opening of the new Wolverhampton extension, got me to researching a bit about the WMM - the wikipedia (I know…) suggests that work is apace to open the WMM on pre-existing former track beds up towards Dudley, and then (future) onwards to Brierley Hill - is there evidence this is actually happening or is this just Wikipedia dreaming up new ideas?

Thanks for the input! And please forgive the healthy dose of wiki-scepticism…

 

[Baxenden Bank]

With all the excitement of the opening of the new Wolverhampton extension, got me to researching a bit about the WMM - the wikipedia (I know…) suggests that work is apace to open the WMM on pre-existing former track beds up towards Dudley, and then (future) onwards to Brierley Hill - is there evidence this is actually happening or is this just Wikipedia dreaming up new ideas?

Thanks for the input! And please forgive the healthy dose of wiki-scepticism…

Google Streetview shows plenty of activity, for example around Dudley Zoo. Obviously some bits are away from roads so cannot be checked and some Streetview may be dated rather than recent.

 

[Farigiraf]

National Rail's official map (by project mapping) shows it as under construction, and that's usually means it's right (they only started showing HS2 as under construction earlier this year)

 

[TravellingPhil]

As a resident of Dudley, I can confirm that tracks are already in place on Castle Hill with tracks currently going in on Flood Street on the other side of the bus station. The bus station redevelopment into a transport interchange will see these two connected.

The flyover for the junction at Wednesbury is also already underway. There have also been some new bridges already installed along the route such as on Sedgley Road in Tipton. So it is happening....albeit sporadically.

 

[DBNR]

Thanks very much for your replies — good to know there’s some movement

 

[Brissle Girl]

You might find this link to the project pages helpful in providing more information. (No quotes provided as it’s just a link to the project site.)

Wednesbury To Brierley Hill Metro Extension – Midland Metro Alliance

metroalliance.co.uk

 

[Dave W]

Regards the extension to Brierley Bonk, the above posted link contains this, which - as I think we've discussed on here before - doesn't sound particularly promising:

The first phase 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.

Bearing in mind there's been talk of it getting to Brierley Hill almost since the start, when I was 11, my hopes of a chance to go direct from Birmingham to Brierley Hill on the tram are gently diminishing at the age of 34...

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Regards the extension to Brierley Bonk, the above posted link contains this, which - as I think we've discussed on here before - doesn't sound particularly promising:



Bearing in mind there's been talk of it getting to Brierley Hill almost since the start, when I was 11, my hopes of a chance to go direct from Birmingham to Brierley Hill on the tram are gently diminishing at the age of 34...

I fear the talk of trains / metro to Brierley Hill go back further than your mere 23 years. But I cannot offer any evidence! 'Baker' Rail Atlas Ninth Edition, published 2001 has it down as a proposed Metro extension so it would be prior to that in order to get included in that 2001 edition.

From Wikipedia here:

Merry Hill (formerly Intu Merry Hill, Westfield Merry Hill and The Merry Hill Shopping Centre) is a large shopping complex in Brierley Hill near Dudley, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several subsequent expansion and renovation projects.

 

[Brissle Girl]

There was some better news in March, when the government awarded £60m of additional funding to enable the whole route to be completed. It may be that there are a few legal and financial steps to go through until it is all confirmed, so until then the website remains suitably vague.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

This section of the Wikipedia page (linked previously) suggests that Metro on the Dudley line was being considered in the late 1980's, as the monorail had a proposed interchange with it.

An elevated monorail was opened at Merry Hill in June 1991, but closed in 1996 as a result of a combination of technical problems and safety concerns (especially the difficulty of evacuation), exacerbated by a dispute between the owners of Merry Hill and The Waterfront, which at the time were owned separately. The infrastructure was later removed, leaving only one disused monorail station and part of the old railings visible—on top of the Marks and Spencer store roof.

The monorail cost £22 million to build, the construction work taking place along with the final phase of the shopping complex in 1988–89, but due to health and safety concerns, it did not open until 19 months after the centre was complete.

There were to be five stations, with the system extending over the canal and terminating close to the site of the former Round Oak railway station where an interchange with a West Midlands Metro extension was proposed. However, only the first four stations were completed; Waterfront East, Central Station, Times Square and Boulevard; with Waterfront West planned as a future development.

And finally.

The (Metro extension) line was first planned in 1986 and was expected to be built during the 1990s, but funding and planning difficulties resulted in a 30-year delay to this project becoming a reality.

 

[Dave W]

There was some better news in March, when the government awarded £60m of additional funding to enable the whole route to be completed. It may be that there are a few legal and financial steps to go through until it is all confirmed, so until then the website remains suitably vague.

One must hope so - at least it's existing trackbed!

This section of the Wikipedia page (linked previously) suggests that Metro on the Dudley line was being considered in the late 1980's, as the monorail had a proposed interchange with it.

This explains, of course, why the Waterfront station was built as a through station - the tracks extended for about 20 feet beyond the station building towards the cut.

I never fathomed that as a kid - in my head, where could it possibly have gone from there?

 

[Farigiraf]

Might finally replace the white elephant that is the Stourbridge shuttle

 

[geoffk]

The route into Birmingham from Dudley looks very indirect. Is there a plan to "cut the corner" from Great Bridge to Black Lake? Admittedly I don't know the area at all - alongside the A41 perhaps?

 

[gg1]

The route into Birmingham from Dudley looks very indirect. Is there a plan to "cut the corner" from Great Bridge to Black Lake? Admittedly I don't know the area at all - alongside the A41 perhaps?

Probably the best way to do that would be street running along Dudley Street and Great Bridge Street, it's a wide and relatively quiet road (through traffic uses the parallel Black Country New Road) so it is faesible in that sense. Main technical obstacles will be relatively steep inclines and almost right angle turns down to the old heavy rail alignments at either end of the street running section, I don't know if these are within the capabilities of the rolling stock.

The old GWR trackbed from Swan Village to Great Bridge is now largely buried under the aforementioned Black Country New Road.

 

[PsychoMouse]

The route into Birmingham from Dudley looks very indirect. Is there a plan to "cut the corner" from Great Bridge to Black Lake? Admittedly I don't know the area at all - alongside the A41 perhaps?

Probably not because the depot is where the new line meets the existing one. Makes little sense digging up a road to make a shot bypass when the line from the depot has to be built anyway.

The Y line arrangement at the depot will also means trams could run Dudley-Wolverhampton but I'm not sure it this is proposed?

 

[Noddy]

Obviously I can see it’s constrained by reusing an existing alignment but it does seem a very indirect route. Does anyone have an idea of what the journey times are likely to be? I can’t help but feel that line 2 is again running through relatively low density residential and industrial areas, and being fairly indirect this isn’t going to mean it’s super successful (like line 1). But at least the network is slowly linking up the different town centres, Merry Hill, HS2 etc which will mean there are a range of different journey options which is good.

 

[P Binnersley]

Obviously I can see it’s constrained by reusing an existing alignment but it does seem a very indirect route. Does anyone have an idea of what the journey times are likely to be?

The distance to From Birmingham to Dudley will be about the same as Birmingham to Priestfield so I would expect a journey time of 30-35 minutes from Grand Central. I think the quickest bus (the 126) is about 50 minutes.

There was some better news in March, when the government awarded £60m of additional funding to enable the whole route to be completed. It may be that there are a few legal and financial steps to go through until it is all confirmed, so until then the website remains suitably vague.

The funding only seems to be enough to get to Merry Hill. Brierley Hill is still "an aspiration".

Funding to continue Black Country metro extension (West Midlands Combined Authority - 2nd June 2023)

This new funding agreement will allow work to continue on the line from Dudley town centre to Merry Hill Waterfront in Brierley Hill. This phase of the project will add a further three stops. The route will then continue onto Merry Hill Shopping Centre, subject to a funding contribution from Dudley Council.

The WMCA maintains an ambition to continue the extension deeper into Brierley Hill, dependent on further funding becoming available.

 

[Dave W]

Nowt in Brierley Hill anymore anyway, sadly. Although I was down Merry Hill at the start of the month and that's hardly prospering...

 

[TravellingPhil]

The distance to From Birmingham to Dudley will be about the same as Birmingham to Priestfield so I would expect a journey time of 30-35 minutes from Grand Central. I think the quickest bus (the 126) is about 50 minutes.


The funding only seems to be enough to get to Merry Hill. Brierley Hill is still "an aspiration".

Funding to continue Black Country metro extension (West Midlands Combined Authority - 2nd June 2023)

I’ll be using the tram from Dudley a lot when it starts. However, each time I do, I’ll be looking to see if any time can be saved transferring to a train at Dudley Port.

I’ll also be thinking about using Dudley Port to park at. I work shifts in the centre of Birmingham and the trams tend to run earlier later than the trains… so that’ll open up my options.

Having said that…we actually get a decent (and well used) early start and late finish already on our local stopper on the Stour line.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

This new funding agreement will allow work to continue on the line from Dudley town centre to Merry Hill Waterfront in Brierley Hill. This phase of the project will add a further three stops. The route will then continue onto Merry Hill Shopping Centre, subject to a funding contribution from Dudley Council.

Reading that in isolation the current Metro extension will get from Wednesbury, through Dudley town centre to Merry Hill Waterfront only ie the business park not the shopping centre or retail parks which are some distance away - hence the original monorail (some good footage of that on Youtube). The section from Waterfront to the retail area will depend on the Dudley Council contribution.

 

[Dave W]

Reading that in isolation the current Metro extension will get from Wednesbury, through Dudley town centre to Merry Hill Waterfront only ie the business park not the shopping centre or retail parks which are some distance away - hence the original monorail (some good footage of that on Youtube). The section from Waterfront to the retail area will depend on the Dudley Council contribution.

Does anyone have an idea of the intended route of that now? I think when we last discussed it here there wasn't a firm plan.

For those outwith the loop, Merry Hill is in a pretty steep "valley" of sorts, and the Waterfront development is largely level with Brierley Hill town (well it's a bit of a hill but all the same...) - so for trams to access Merry Hill directly would involve a pretty tasty bank in both directions.

ISTR that some provision was made for this firstly with the improvement works around the canal above Merry Hill in the early-mid 90s, and then again when the "bypass" was built in Brierley Hill. There's plenty of free/brownfield land in Brierley Hill but I remain concerned it'll simply never happen.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Does anyone have an idea of the intended route of that now? I think when we last discussed it here there wasn't a firm plan.

For those outwith the loop, Merry Hill is in a pretty steep "valley" of sorts, and the Waterfront development is largely level with Brierley Hill town (well it's a bit of a hill but all the same...) - so for trams to access Merry Hill directly would involve a pretty tasty bank in both directions.

ISTR that some provision was made for this firstly with the improvement works around the canal above Merry Hill in the early-mid 90s, and then again when the "bypass" was built in Brierley Hill. There's plenty of free/brownfield land in Brierley Hill but I remain concerned it'll simply never happen.

There is a reasonable map based route here which I went to after my previous post. It shows a first phase to Flood Street (one stop after Dudley), a second phase to Waterfront (3 stops) and a third phase to Brierley Hill (two stops plus a potential third I think).

 

[Dave W]

There is a reasonable map based route here which I went to after my previous post. It shows a first phase to Flood Street (one stop after Dudley), a second phase to Waterfront (3 stops) and a third phase to Brierley Hill (two stops plus a potential third I think).

Ah yes maybe I have seen that, actually - although not for a while and it's a good reminder, especially in this thread, so thank you!

So even the Merry Hill stop (not Waterfront) would be high above the centre at or around the level of the cut - it's a not insignificant slog up to that level from memory! Although whenever I go now I have the motor.

(Speculative bit: With even the Brierley Hill part in relative jeopardy, this seems silly to discuss, but interesting how the alignment into the Brierley Hill stop neatly lines up with Moor Street which could carry tram tracks back to the old Round Oak line at or around Moor Street Goods. Hang a left into the old yard, past what will I'm sure will become a host of new houses at some point and rejoin the line near Kingswinford Jn for a run into Stourbridge Jn. Alas...)

 

[Sunil_P]

Managed to do the Wolverhampton station extension yesterday afternoon - in the pouring rain (Station to The Royal and back)!

On the way back to Birmingham on LNWR we passed over the route of the new line near Dudley Port, definitely some work going on. Not much going on on the Willenhall line on the way out to Wolverhampton, save for some space cut into the embankment for possible platforms.

 

[P Binnersley]

Metro extension will go to Brierley Hill High Street as funding confirmed (BBC)

A tram extension thrown into doubt by funding issues is to go ahead.
The West Midlands Metro extension to Brierley Hill had been deemed as likely to be delayed or even scrapped as costs rose and more funding was needed.
But Metro Mayor Andy Street confirmed the link from Wednesbury will go all the way to Brierley Hill High Street as cash had been secured.
The money has been confirmed by the government following the cancellation of phase 2 of HS2.

 

[TravellingPhil]

Metro extension will go to Brierley Hill High Street as funding confirmed (BBC)

How many times over the past few years has funding been confirmed for the Brierley Hill extension now?

Does Andy Street even remember 'confirming the funding' in 2019?