Eastside story on West Midlands Metro

At approximately one mile in length, the West Midlands Metro Eastside extension is relatively short. But it promises to deliver a step-change in connectivity within Birmingham, and potentially play a crucial role in the transformation of the city’s Digbeth and Eastside districts in Birmingham.

The work, which is being delivered by the Midland Metro Alliance (MMA), began at the start of 2021. Since then, steady progress has been made on construction, including completion of several key milestones.

Once complete, the Eastside extension will provide connectivity between Birmingham New Street, Snow Hill, Moor Street and the new Curzon Street HS2 station that is currently under construction. The extension will also bring trams into Digbeth, with a tram stop located on High Street, Deritend, close to Birmingham coach station.

The route begins at a new delta junction located on the junction between Bull Street and Corporation Street. This junction will allow trams from Wolverhampton and Edgbaston Village to reach Digbeth once the extension is complete, with trams from Edgbaston providing a link between New Street (Grand Central) and Curzon Street stations.

It is anticipated that there will be a ten-minute frequency during the peak, with services split between those to/from Wolverhampton and to/from Edgbaston.

Work on the delta junction is now complete, and tracks are in place leading in a south-easterly direction from the junction along Bull Street to Dale End.

A building at the bottom of Bull Street was demolished last year to make way for the extension, and utilities are now being diverted before track installation work can commence.

The tracks will lead from Bull Street to Albert Street, which is where the first of four new tram stops will be located. Work on Albert Street was at an early stage in February, with preparations under way to begin diverting yet more utilities before construction proper can begin on the new tram stop.

Preparatory works were also under way for the rebuilding of the junction leading from Albert Street onto Moor Street Queensway. Trams will cross Moor Street Queensway before heading past the Clayton Hotel en route to the next tram stop, which will be situated at an angle to New Canal Street.

The Curzon Street stop will be close to the existing 1838 Grade 1 Listed Curzon Street station building and Grade 2 Listed Woodman pub, and will provide connectivity with the Curzon Street HS2 station.

Much of the preparatory work has already been carried out between Moor Street Queensway and New Canal Street, with the site for the tram line currently falling within the HS2 site boundary.

The section between Moor Street and New Canal Street will be home to a temporary terminus to be used before the tram line is completed to Digbeth.

Funding for the temporary terminus was agreed in November last year, with £18 million allocated for construction of the tram stop and diamond crossing which will be located adjacent to the Clayton Hotel.

The temporary terminus is required as the construction of Curzon Street station will unfortunately delay the opening of the extension to Digbeth.

The station will be sited above the new line and the tram stop on New Canal Street. Therefore, construction of the tram line and stop cannot commence until work on the station is largely complete.

New Canal Street closed to pedestrians last year in readiness for construction of the HS2 station, and work on the station officially began in January this year, with piling work now under way.

Although the new station will be above the tram stop, there will be step-free access from the platforms to street level. A ground-level eastern concourse located underneath the HS2 platforms will be connected to the platform level by lifts and escalators.

The area beneath and around the station is set to be transformed with the construction of a large mixed-use public square, with the existing 1838 building forming an important focal point.

It is anticipated that work on this short section of the tram route will not be able to begin until 2026 at the earliest, even though the extension was originally supposed to open in 2025.

It is hoped that the new temporary terminus will allow trams to serve Moor Street station and Birmingham University by 2025 or early 2026. However, trams will not reach Digbeth until 2027 at the earliest.

From New Canal Street the extension will head south underneath the West Coast Main Line to the junction with Bordesley Street and Meriden Street. The third new stop, which will be called Meriden Street, will be located on New Canal Street between the WCML and the Chiltern Main Line.

Work to divert utilities along the section of New Canal Street that is not within the HS2 work site is now complete (although as of February 2024, track installation work had yet to begin).

The line will continue southwards from the Meriden Street stop underneath the Chiltern Main Line, before reaching the B4100 in Digbeth (which becomes B4100 High Street, Deritend).

Work on Meriden Street is still at an early stage, but work on High Street, Deritend looks to be fast approaching completion.

Considering that trams will not reach Digbeth until no earlier that 2027, it’s surprising how complete this section of extension appears. The final sections of track in Digbeth were welded together in January, and now work is focused on completing the tram stop, which will be the eventual terminus for the Eastside extension.

Heading east from the tram stop, a short section of track leads to a diamond crossing, beyond which the rails continue briefly before coming to an abrupt end. However, this may not be the end of the line for long, with passive provision in place for a future extension to Solihull if funding can be secured.

Prior to construction along the High Street, the road itself did not appear to be a particularly pleasant place for pedestrians, being dominated by lanes for road vehicles. Now the road has been reduced to one lane in each direction for vehicles, with the addition of lay-bys for buses.