Birmingham Eastside Metro Extension Hits New Construction Milestone

The Birmingham Eastside Metro extension has reached a new milestone with the installation of 45 metres of double track between Meriden Street and Digbeth High Street.

This comes after a pause on work due to the Commonwealth Games.

Milestone celebrated after first section of rail installed in Digbeth
Milestone celebrated after first section of rail installed in Digbeth

Midland Metro Alliance (MMA) engineers spent more than 10 hours working overnight on the installation of rail and sleepers on the city centre bound track.

Sleepers were also installed on the line heading towards the future site of the Digbeth terminus.

Hamish Falconer, Construction Manager at MMA, said:

“We're all extremely delighted to have reached this important stage of the construction progress.

“The benefit of installing this section of rail at this point in the programme means that, once the permanent road surface is installed in the coming weeks, we will not have to revisit this area.”

Construction on the extension began in summer 2021. When complete, it will run 1.7 kilometres from Bull Street in the city centre to Digbeth, and provide passengers with four new tram stops.

More than half of the route is planned to be free of overhead wires, similar to the extension from Grand Central to Centenary Square.

Councillor Liz Clements, Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said:

“We're really pleased to see that good progress is being made on the Birmingham Eastside Metro extension. Not only is it a significant milestone, it allows people to visualise what the area will look like when the trams are in operation.

“This metro extension is a key part of Birmingham’s response to the challenge of climate change and this new route will provide a sustainable option for travel across the city.”

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