West Midlands Metro passengers top seven million for the first time
The number of passengers using the West Midlands Metro topped seven million for the first time last year, new figures have revealed.
Data from the West Midlands Combined Authority shows that the number of passengers on the service from Wolverhampton to Birmingham jumped to 7.3 million in 2018, a million more than in the previous year.
The figure is thought to be a record for the service, and transport bosses believe passenger numbers will continue to grow.
They have predicted a golden future for the region's tram network, with construction due to start on the £449m Brierley Hill to Wednesbury extension later this year.
Work is already underway on extensions through Wolverhampton and Birmingham city centres, while a line out from Birmingham's Grand Central to Hagley Road, Edgbaston is set for completion in 2021.
Passenger numbers on the Metro were steady around the five million mark up to 2015, rising to 6.6m in 2016 after the Birmingham city centre extension from Snow Hill to Grand Central opened.
Numbers dropped to in 6.2m in 2017, chiefly as a result of six months of disruption caused by track replacement work on Bilston Road in Wolverhampton.
The WMCA says that in the 12 months to December 2018 there were 7.3m passengers, with numbers continuing to increase month on month
Phil Hewitt, director of West Midlands Metro, said: “When we build extensions, people use them. If you consider the transformation in public transport connections it will bring to Dudley town centre in particular, people will undoubtedly use what will be a 'turn up and go' service.
“But even before the extension to Brierley Hill opens we expect increases in passenger numbers when we open up the first leg of the Westside extension from Birmingham’s Grand Central to Centenary Square later this year.
"Numbers are forecast to increase again when the second leg to Edgbaston opens and after completion of the Wolverhampton city centre extension.”
The WMCA's investment board is set to approve plans for the Brierley Hill to Wednesbury extension at a meeting on Monday, before the scheme goes before council leaders and the Mayor on March 23.
The line, which will pass through Dudley town centre with provisional stops at the zoo and the Black Country Living Museum, is scheduled to open in 2023.
