£28m Dudley light rail plan 'not affected by Brexit'

It was feared pulling out of the EU would hit funding.

A report by the authority said that the loss of European Union funding following Britain's vote to leave it in June could affect the 'viability' of the Very Light Rail Project, which will see an innovation centre built at Castle Hill.

But Councillor Kurshid Ahmed, cabinet for planning and economic development, said the council had been reassured by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond that funding would not be pulled.

"We have been reassured by the Chancellor that we will get the allocated funding from the EU," he said.

"We have been guaranteed the project will not be affected and that is re-assuring for us."

The project, which has been earmarked to cost £27.8 million, would see a technological centre built near Castle Hill and have a test track running to Cinder Bank.

The report by Dudley Council said that the Black Country could lose millions in terms of the region's economic growth due to Brexit. And this could affect the funding of the latter stages of the the light rail project, the report said, and that alternative sources would need to be found.

The rail link will run from the technology centre, built at the bottom of Castle Hill, through Dudley Tunnel, and will terminate close to Cinder Bank. The track will serve as a testing facility for new rail-car technology, required a stretch of tunnel.