New proposal for a delayed Black Country railway station has been submitted to the West Midlands Mayor
A proposal calling for a major rethink in a delayed West Midland railway station project has been formally submitted.
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Councillor Timothy Huxtable, Chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Transport Delivery Overview & Scrutiny Committee, has written to the region’s Mayor Richard Parker urging he look at the Aldridge Station issue.
He is urging a rethink of the project, calling for the reopening of the Sutton Park Line to allow services to go direct to Birmingham instead of Walsall with new rail stations being created along the way.
Councillor Huxtable said this would support major housing and employment developments along the route.
He first raised the issue at a WMCA Board meeting in July and again at a scrutiny meeting last month where the mayor invited him to write in with .
In his letter, Councillor Huxtable said: “I mentioned that I believed the WMCA/WMRE should look at the rail route between Walsall and Birmingham City Centre via the (current rail freight only) Sutton Park line.
“Along this route, the Langley Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE) is proposed.
New stations along this route could include: “Aldridge” (enhanced as a two platform station); “Langley” to serve the SUE; and “Castle Bromwich”, identified in the WMCA/WMRE New Stations Study.
“Initially running into New Street, it could run into the surplus platform capacity at HS2 Curzon Street or Moor Street via the “Eastern” Bordesley Chord (identified in the Midlands Rall Hub).
“In addition, Cross Country Trains could call at any new station at Castle Bromwich on the route between Birmingham City Centre and Tamworth to improve the offer to rail commuters as part of the East Birmingham/North Solihull Inclusive Growth Strategy.
“This would allow “Journeys for Everyone” along these rail corridors to improve economic growth and access to job, skills, and leisure and cultural offers.
“Thank you for reviewing this proposal and I look forward to your response.”
The existing Aldridge Station plan with diesel services to Walsall was originally put forward by former Mayor Andy Street and, to date, £3.6 million has been secured and committed to developing feasibility studies and a business case for it.
In July last year, the scheme was one of a number of transport projects delayed due to soaring costs. Aldridge was delayed indefinitely until the full funding for the project was available.
Mr Parker commissioned Arup to carry out a review into the issues and a report said only £3.6 million of the £30 million required had been secured.
But Aldridge-Brownhills’ Conservative MP Wendy Morton said the Mayor was being ‘disingenuous’ about the station issue and said she and Mr Street had secured the £30 million for it to be delivered by 2027.