Insider Media Limited

A transport blueprint for Birmingham city centre is being unveiled this morning and is expected to give the green light to a rapid transit vehicle system. The vehicles - which look like trams but run on wheels - would be used to link up some of the outlying areas of the city centre with the city core and it is understood they would ’loop’ around the city on a circuit.

One of the brains behind the scheme is Gary Taylor, who is executive director of Brindleyplace developer Argent and chairman of the Broad Street BID (business improvement district).

Speaking at Insider’s Birmingham Economic Forum recently, Taylor said of the scheme: “It’s about 10 per cent of the cost of a tram or railway system. And once the routes are successful you can actually turn them into trams. A lot of work has gone on with the council and I’m confident we will come up with a decent, well thought through proposal which should get a fair hearing.”

The transport blueprint - Vision for Movement - is being unveiled at the International Convention Centre this morning by Taylor and Birmingham City Council leader Mike Whitby and is described as a “compelling vision to transform the way people come into and move around Birmingham city centre”. It is expected to lay the foundations for a network of rapid transit, bus, rail, cycling and walking routes. The initiative brings together the council, local transport organisation Centro and the various city BIDs.

Speaking to Insider recently, Waheed Nazir, director of regeneration at Birmingham City Council, said he is keen to ensure that the city becomes more user-friendly for people on foot.

“In most successful European cities pedestrians have a positive experience. We want to achieve that,” he said.