It is fair to say that progress on expanding the tram system in the West Midlands since the first line opened in 1999 has been a tad tardy. Just two modest extensions on each end of the track have emerged since, and both of those were only fully completed and delivered in recent years.
The Birmingham Westside expansion from Grand Central came in two phases, with the Library stop opening in 2019 and Edgbaston Village being delivered in 2022. Since 2023, Wolverhampton has enjoyed a mini spin-off line which sees some trams head towards the rail and bus interchange instead of all finishing at the original St George’s stop.
Last month, a brand new extension was unveiled. Joining the near-15 miles of tram track built over 27 years was a new Birmingham City Centre line which opened up a grand total of two new stops. Before Transport for West Midlands, Midland Metro Alliance and any other tram lover comes for me, I know this is just a small part of the grand Birmingham Eastside extension to Digbeth. Work is ongoing on that wider expansion, but will the two new stops in the city centre make much of a difference in the meantime? To find out, I decided to see how long it would take me to walk the route compared with riding the tram along it.
Though my physique is not too dissimilar to that of a Kenyan marathon runner, I am really not the fittest of people. I get tired driving 26 miles, let alone running them. But I still fancied my chances of walking from Grand Central station to Millennium Point in good time.
I left New Street at 8:41 and strolled along Corporation Street at a good but sensible pace, arriving at Bull Street – where the new track starts from – at 8:46. I probably should be slightly embarrassed it took me five minutes to walk a short way up the road, especially as it then took me a further six minutes to make it to Millennium Point, the second of the two new stops. And that is while I was walking with some purpose and not enjoying a leisurely, carefree stroll. In my defence, I turn 50 later this year.
One sight that did warm the heart along the way was the boards erected around lampposts bearing a warning which goes something along the lines of “Lookout! Trams are on the loose.” I am looking forward to seeing more of those as the line is expanded.
My question on whether it was worth opening a Metro extension for just two stops was answered firstly by my obvious lack of fitness and secondly by the dozen or so students who got off the tram that arrived at Millennium Point. They sure looked raring to go for a full day’s learning, having saved time and energy utilising the new tram service.
The Metro was ready to chauffeur me back from whence I came, and I had barely settled in my seat when it reached Albert Street – the other of the two new stops – in about a minute. And then in five minutes I was back at Grand Central. Had we not stopped at two red lights, we would have been back a bit sooner too.
But, as I said earlier, while the two new stops are welcome for lazy, unfit people like me, there is a much bigger picture. Work is ongoing on different phases of the Eastside extension out to Digbeth, and much of the construction should be completed later this year. Beyond that, there is also the small matter of a new Metro extension from Digbeth to the £3 billion Sports Quarter regeneration site, ready for the opening of the new Birmingham City FC 62,000-seater stadium in 2030.
Over in the Black Country, the long-awaited, delayed new tram route from Wednesbury to Dudley should finally open in the summer. The second phase will see that go further out to Merry Hill. We will be seeing many of those boards warning of oncoming trams at a number of new locations in the coming months.
