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New Metro route as part of £289m town revamp

A new Midland Metro route will form part of the multi-million-pound revamp of a Black Country town to link passengers between new supermarkets and tourist attractions, a transport boss vowed today.

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A new Midland Metro route will form part of the multi-million-pound revamp of a Black Country town to link passengers between new supermarkets and tourist attractions, a transport boss vowed today.

A line through Dudley as part of a £289m project is being included in the blueprint for work on Castle Hill. It is hoped trams will stop outside a £20m supermarket in The Minories and run down Castle Hill, past a new entrance for the Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Zoo.

The line would run between Wednesbury and Dudley Port, with around 15 stops.

Transport bosses are applying for Government funding and say the approved extension of the line between Birmingham New Street and Snow Hill was a positive step forward.

Centro chairman and Dudley Councillor Angus Adams said: "We have included the Metro in the plans because we intend this to be a vital part of the regeneration of the town and the region.

"At the moment just one Metro line is not enough – we need a network to meet demand.

"We just need to wait and see if funding will become available but the reaction to the Birmingham line extension has been good and shows progress is being made."

Concerns had been raised that the Metro route would be abandoned after plans were unveiled for hybrid tram-trains, capable of travelling along both light and heavy rail tracks, to take passengers along a defunct freight train route between Stourbridge and Walsall, with stops in Brierley Hill and Dudley.

But Councillor Adams said the two developments were "separate".

Developers of a supermarket and shops at the Falcon House site in The Minories have included the Metro in their designs. It would run along Trindle Road and Flood Street

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