Potters Lane Progress

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Work has begun on a £13.8 million expansion of the Wednesbury Midland Metro depot.

The project will see the existing Metro Centre at Potters Lane updated ready to stable 20 new trams as part of the £128 million expansion of the line into Birmingham New Street.

Transport authority, Centro, has awarded the contract to Morgan Sindall.

Says Jag Paddam, managing director of infrastructure at Morgan Sindall, ‘This is our first project for Centro and we look forward to working with them and delivering a project of which they can be proud.’

The existing maintenance depot will be expanded by 42 metres. Additional maintenance berths will complement four new stabling sidings and a separate testing and commissioning shed.

Existing overhead lines, infrastructure and communications will be upgraded and a new substation constructed at Colliery Road, West Bromwich.

The Midland Metro runs from Wolverhampton to Snow Hill station in Birmingham city centre via Bilston, Wednesbury and West Bromwich.

The tram service has 23 stops with trams every 6-8 minutes during the peak and every 10 minutes the rest of the day.

The government gave the final go-ahead in February for work to start on the one mile extension from Snow Hill to New Street station.

Spanish tram manufacturer CAF will supply up 25 Urbos-3 trams. The new trams should arrive in 2014.

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