Thursday 11 July 2024

Aug 2022 TfWM plans for WBHE aka the Dudley Tram

 Conclusions of


1. While the option presented by Tim Weller could lower costs for the WBH extension, it would not directly stop at Merry Hill and The Waterfront, For the Waterfront, I am suggesting a tram stop at the Blue Brick pub (closed).  This is the same configuration as the new Kings Heath railway station, now being built two of the line’s main attractors. This would impact patronage and thus the overall viability of the scheme.
2. From 2021 assessments, the most promising option to link Brierley Hill and Stourbridge Junction is to share the live rail freight line from Stourbridge Junction to Round Oak terminal with a tram-train and then proceed to join the Metro line to provide direct services without interchange to Merry Hill and The Waterfront.  YES!  Just call it a commuter, regional and intercity service with trams or trains to suit. This enables higher service frequencies to attract significant patronage. Light rail and Very Light Rail services would require a separate single line which would only give low frequency services, attracting less patronage. This suggests that the feasibility of tram-train, from Stourbridge to Brierley Hill, and then onto Dudley, Wednesbury and Walsall needs to be explored further.  Don't complicate things and add even more expense with tram-train or train-tram.  Go for one or the other.  Possibly, tram only now you have trams between Dudley and Wednesbury AND, the railway lines are now taken for the BCIMO HQ at the former Dudley mainline railway station.

Stop the rest of the line, from Walsall to Lichfield being turned into a cycle-walkway!!

Best wishes

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