Prosper Spring

FROM THE MAYOR’S OFFICE
Andy Street,
West Midlands Mayor
Midlands rail plans would connect
our industrial powerhouses
Transport has always played an
important role in the success of Black
Country industry. The ability to move people
and goods around helped establish the
foundational industries here that drove the
Industrial Revolution. After all, this is where
steam power began.
Building a world-class transport system is
also a powerful way of driving investment
into the region, boosting business. In this
column I want to tell you about plans for the
‘Midlands Rail Hub’, game-changing new
proposals that will drive jobs and housing,
and boost business.
Rail investment has been key to the
renewal of the West Midlands. For a start,
unprecedented investment in HS2 is
bringing significant regeneration as well as
supporting thousands of existing jobs in
construction.
My own plans for the local public
transport network has seen Wolverhampton
The proposed Midlands Rail Hub
station reborn, while work is underway to
reopen others at Willenhall, Darlaston and
Aldridge which have been closed since the
1960s. Alongside all this the Metro network
continues to grow, including the depot at
Wednesbury.
However, our local rail network still lacks
capacity, in a way that often affects the
whole country.
The £1.4 billion Midlands Rail Hub
proposals will sort those capacity issues
once and for all, expanding the network by
14.6 million seats per year. The plans would
relieve the bottleneck at New Street station,
for example, by expanding Moor Street to
link up with the neighbouring HS2 station.
Of course, winning investment of this
level is all about building a compelling
business case, and I am now lobbying hard
to get the Government to proceed with the
plans.
The economic benefits of the proposals
are there for all to see. They will drive
footfall to our city and town centres and
open up areas to business investment. They
will also give 1.6 million people easier
access to the benefits of HS2.
Analysis shows that, for every £1 spent on
the Rail Hub plans, the economy will get
£1.50 back. It will also safeguard 1,600
quality jobs in construction. The figures
stack up.
But it’s how the Midlands Rail Hub will
help deliver Levelling Up that is perhaps
most exciting. While HS2 will connect our
part of the country with North and South,
the Rail Hub will enhance the network right
here, in the heart of England.
Too often, as the nation debates the
so-called North-South divide, the Midlands
gets overlooked. The Midlands Rail Hub will
better connect the economic powerhouses
of the Black Country and West Midlands
with our neighbours in the East Midlands,
supercharging the economy here. It will
provide a foundational investment that will
link our communities like never before. As I
have said many times, when the Midlands
are doing well, the UK does well.
Rail has never been more important. The
pandemic saw passenger numbers hit, but
patronage is growing again here. It’s vital
that we keep investing.
In London, Crossrail cost somewhere in
the region of £14 billion. At £1.4 billion, the
Midlands Rail Hub represents just a tenth of
that price tag yet will improve the economic
prospects of the Black Country, the wider
region, and huge swathes of the UK.
Transport has always played a big part in
the success of the Black Country. If Midlands
Rail Hub gets the green light, it would be
‘full steam ahead’ for better connectivity,
more investment and a boost for business.
08 PROSPER SPRING 2023