Sainsbury’s and WH Smith will open shops at Wolverhampton’s £22.5 million new bus station, it can be revealed today.

Dozens of jobs will be created at both stores, which will open later this summer at the same time as the revamped station is unveiled.

A Sainsbury’s Local will open in a 3,300 sq ft section of a new two-storey building next to the bus station.

Also set to take space there is a Centro travel shop. It is hoped the terminus — the busiest in the West Midlands — will be open by the beginning of August.

Councillor Peter Bilson, who is in charge of regeneration in Wolverhampton, said today the latest announcement showed big players had faith in the city. “This is a signal that Wolverhampton is on its way to making improvements”, he said.

WH Smith will open a 1,350 sq ft shop in the 19th century Queen’s Building, which was once used by Victorian rail passengers to transfer to a horse-drawn coach to make the final journey to the railway station.

The bus station is part of an overall £176m plan, dubbed the Interchange project, that will also see the train station rebuilt if funding is secured.

Rob Mason, development director of Neptune, the firm building the bus station, said today: “We are delighted these two leading retail companies have signed up to the scheme.” Sainsbury’s this week won planning permission to extend its store in Wednesfield, creating a further 80 jobs.