Centro, the West Midlands passenger transport executive, has published a contract notice for the £129m extension of the Midland Metro into the centre of Birmingham.
The extension from Snow Hill Station to a rebuilt New Street Station remains on course for completion by 2015, having been spared in the government’s comprehensive spending review and given £75m funding by the Department for Transport.
The Birmingham city centre extension works will provide an extension to the existing Midland Metro line 1 from its current terminus at Snow Hill Station through to Stephenson Street to provide interchange with new street station and gateway project.
Work will include new track and associated infrastructure connecting into the existing line 1 system, construction of four new tram stops, road resurfacing works, and structural and drainage improvements to the existing brick arched Network Rail Snow Hill viaduct.
Construction is expected to take 30 months to complete.
The joint project by Centro, the Black Country and Birmingham City councils, is expected to boost the West Midlands economy by £50m a year and create up to 1,300 jobs.
Midland Metro line 1 opened in 1999 and now carries more than 5.2 million passengers a year between Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
For further details of the bidding process, click here for our Contract Leads section.
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