Rising costs put West Midlands Metro extensions under threat

Three miles of West Midlands Metro’s southern extension may never be built because construction costs are spiralling out of control.

Suggestions that the line may terminate at Dudley were made at the West Midlands Combined Authority meeting on July 19, when it was explained that the project is now three years late, with the section under construction almost 50% over budget.

The price of the line from Wednesbury to Merry Hill shopping centre, which was estimated to cost £449.5 million when approved in March 2019, is now running at £654.8m and could increase further.

There are now suggestions that there may not be enough money to extend to Merry Hill, while the planned eventual terminus at Brierley Hill has been reduced in status to “proposed” on the official map.

Price increases that have bedevilled the Metro project have been blamed on the rise in construction and energy costs (Dudley interchange is £8.7m higher because of “design flaws”), coupled with reduced fares income because of the COVID pandemic.

When the first spades went into the ground in early 2017, it was expected that the full service from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill could be running by 2023, but it could now be up to another 18 months before it even reaches Dudley.

The latest cost estimates are: Phase 1 (Wednesbury to Dudley) £393.5m; Phase 2a (Dudley to Waterfront Merry Hill) £227m; and Phase 2b (Waterfront Merry Hill to Merry Hill) £33.6m.

The last phase - phase 2c, from Merry Hill to Brierley Hill town centre - was last estimated to cost £30m but is now not considered for future funding. The Department for Transport is expected to ask for a re-examination of the business case.

And the opening of three stations along the Camp Hill line (at Moseley, Kings Heath and Pineapple Road), which have already been delayed until the end of this year, will now not open until autumn 2025 (RAIL 1014).

Other projects that have not yet started the construction phase, such as the tram line along Hagley Road, the new £30m station at Aldridge, and Wolverhampton’s Cross-City Bus scheme, are formally deferred until new government funding is available - possibly in 2027.