£4m train station is proposed for Willenhall
A £4 million train station with two platforms and a 28-space car park could be built in Willenhall, transport bosses revealed today.
Centro said a station could be created in Bilston Street after a feasibility study found it to be "practical". The transport authority said a new station would boost the case for reinstating a train line from Wolverhampton to Walsall – the plans for which have been effectively shelved for the past three years.
The Express & Star reported last week how transport bosses and train operators are struggling to make the business case work for the plan.
Centro is also reviewing Darlaston and Aldridge as possible future station locations.
Stephen Rhodes, director of customer experience at Centro and author of the report on the Walsall to Wolverhampton line, said providing new local stations would improve the business case.
"Centro therefore separately commissioned a study into the provision of a station at Willenhall from Network Rail," he said.
"This showed that the construction of a station in Willenhall was practical and would cost £4 million for a basic, unstaffed, two platform station, plus £550,000 for a 28-space car park.
"The station would be located on Bilston Street and would use the highway bridge as the link between the platforms."
Councillor Ian Shires, for Willenhall North, said he believed it was something that would only be possible if the multi-million HS2 line, linking Birmingham and London, is completed.
