Major milestone in Dudley Metro extension

A major first has been celebrated for the Metro extension in Dudley with the delivery of the first pieces of track in the Black Country town for the highly-anticipated scheme.

A total of 300 metres of rail arrived at the Castle Hill site in Dudley town centre on for installation to commence in the coming weeks.

The delivery marks a significant step forward for the light rail project, the biggest of its kind in the UK, and follows months of work, and two evenings of localised overnight road closures, to prepare the site for this next phase of construction.

West Midlands mayor Andy Street said: “The delivery of the first section of rail is a really exciting moment for the Black Country Metro extension and I am delighted that we will shortly see track installed along Castle Hill.

“This is such an eagerly-anticipated route, not least because it will better connect Dudley with more of Sandwell, Wolverhampton, and the east and west of Birmingham by tram.

“Not only that, but it will also provide a direct route for many across the Black Country to travel directly to the new Curzon Street station for HS2, providing links to the rest of the UK.

“This Metro extension truly is a game-changer for Dudley and the Black Country, and we 're pressing on and making it happen. ”

Preparatory work on the project got underway along Castle Hill in 2020 and since then the team at the Midland Metro Alliance (MMA), which is designing and delivering the route on behalf of Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), have made continued progress, including the removal of the road surface and the upgrading and diverting of utilities in the area.

One half of Castle Hill has been prepared for rail installation and future work will see concrete track beds poured ahead of rails being installed and welded in place.

Tom Maplethorpe, project director at MMA, said: “The team have been hard at work undertaking a number of essential activities in preparation for the track to be installed, despite the ongoing challenges of the new wave of Covid-19 cases.

“Residents, visitors and businesses will soon start to see the area take shape in what will be a really exciting time for the project. ”