The West Midlands Metro is slowly morphing from a single line to a network. As part of its network expansion, the Metro has opened a branch between Bull Street and Millennium Point.
Passenger tram services are to start running to the Millennium Point stop from Easter Sunday (5 April), connecting even more parts of Birmingham city centre to the West Midlands Metro network.
The extension is the first stage of the Birmingham Eastside Metro extension, which includes two new stops, offering passengers easy access to key destinations, including Moor Street Station, the Clayton Hotel, Birmingham City University campus and Millennium Point.
The opening will also see changes to the existing timetable, with some services between Bull Street and Grand Central being routed to the new stops. It also arrives in time for families planning an Easter holiday visit to the popular Thinktank attraction.
The new line also offers a direct tram link at the new Albert Street stop for the 400,000 bus passengers who use the Moor Street bus interchange every week, offering travellers seamless links between bus, tram and train for the first time in this part of the city centre.
It is also the first part of the route to branch off from the main West Midlands Metro line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, and a second branch will be opened later this year when trams start running between Wednesbury and Dudley.
Both are being delivered by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), which is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with services run by West Midlands Metro, with construction of the project by the Midland Metro Alliance.
In Quotes
Metro’s Managing Director, Sophie Allison, says her team is looking forward to welcoming new and existing customers on the new route.
“The launch of services to Millennium Point marks another important milestone in the expansion of the tram network and the two new stops will initially see trams every 15 minutes,”
“They’ll deliver a wealth of benefits for local businesses and the travelling public by connecting another vibrant part of the city centre to the wider tram system.”
Sandeep Shingadia, Executive Director of TfWM, said:
“This new extension will bring people close to the places where they work, study and visit, while supporting local businesses.
“It is just the beginning of a much wider transformation of our Metro network to connect more communities, open up new opportunities to help our region grow and make travel easier and more accessible for everyone.”
Phil Edwards, Director of Infrastructure and Sustainability at Birmingham City Council, added:
“It’s great to see the opening of new tram stops in Eastside, which will provide improved public transport access to Birmingham Knowledge Quarter including Millennium Point and the Birmingham City University campus for residents and visitors alike.
“The council looks forward to working with WMCA to open further stops on the route through to Digbeth and beyond to the Birmingham Sports Quarter in due course.”
Maria Ion, Project Director for the Alliance, said:
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see trams ready to run on a route we’ve spent years planning and building.
“This milestone has been achieved through close collaboration between with our partners through all phases, from planning and construction to testing and commissioning. We are grateful to local residents and businesses for their patience and cooperation throughout the construction process.”
Further (confirmed) extensions to come
For the first part of its life, the Midland Metro operated between Wolverhampton St George’s (near the city centre) to Birmingham Snow Hill. In recent years, it’s finally started to expand, with the Birmingham City Centre Extension (which moved the Metro to a new alignment so it could serve Birmingham City Centre, with extensions to the Library of Birmingham and the Edgbaston Village development). It has a short spur installed to serve Wolverhampton Rail Station.
The works conducted here are part of the Eastside and Sports Quarter extension, which requires access to the HS2 site at Curzon Street. Work on the extension has been completed on the other side of the site, continuing to Digbeth High Street. In the future, this will be the start of a planned extension to Birmingham Airport and Solihull.
The biggest extensions to open will be the Brierley Hill Lines. These lines will travel from the current Wednesbury Great Western Street tram stop towards Dudley Port station, Dudley town centre, Merry Hill Shopping Centre, and Brierley Hill. This is being delivered in two tranches with the line from Wednsbury to Dudley to open first (and hopefully in 2026), with the Dudley extension to open in 2028.
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