Budget agreed for £43.3m Wednesbury tram depot expansion

An expansion of the Wednesbury tram depot is to cater for the extra trams needed for the larger Midland Metro network, a report said

A £43.3m scheme to expand a tram depot to cope with a bigger network in the West Midlands has taken a step forward.

The expansion of the Metro site at Potters Lane, Wednesbury, is to cater for a doubling of the existing fleet.

The extra trams will be needed for several extensions of the network including to Wolverhampton city centre and Wednesbury to Brierley Hill.

The budget and a full business case have been approved by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) board.

However, final sign-off will be made by the authority's chief executive, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said, as not enough board members were present for it to make formal decisions.

A WMCA report said the expanded site will accommodate 46 trams with the potential in the future to maintain up to 69 trams if future extensions of the network are made.

The approval by the authority still needs the government to agree to using funds for the scheme from a £1bn regional transport funding settlement.

The project also needs to go through the WMCA investment board for agreement before final approvals by the board.

At the meeting on Friday, the deputy leader of Wolverhampton Council, Stephen Simkins, asked if the Wolverhampton Metro extension would be ready for Birmingham's Commonwealth Games.

Transport for West Midlands director Anne Shaw said they hoped the scheme would be ready for the Games, which begin on 28 July.