Metro extension to get £75m government funding
Birmingham’s Metro extension will receive funding of more than £75m from the Department for Transport, it has been revealed. The project is one of nine across the country given the green light by the government after it strove to cut costs following the spending review. However, other West Midlands projects, including the Coventry to Nuneaton rail upgrade and the Worcester Integrated Transport Strategy, have not recieved the go-ahead.
Transport secretary Philip Hammond said the schemes were carefully considered before £45.5m of savings were made from more than 30 transport schemes submitted from across the UK.
A further 23 schemes will now be able to bid for funding from a pot worth about £630m. These schemes have provisionally identified overall savings of 42 per cent.
Nine pre-qualification pool schemes were refused investment, and two were withdrawn from their promoters.
Among the successful projects was the £129m extension of Birmingham’s Metro system, towards which the Department for Transport will contribute £75.4m.
Alongside the Coventry-Nuneaton rail upgrade and the Worcester Integrated Transport Strategy, the department announced that the A45 Westbound Bridge Maintenance in Solihull would also have to bid for cash from the £630m fund.
Maintenance work on the A38 Tame Viaduct in Birmingham will not receive funding in the current spending review period, said the government.
Hammond said: “The government is committed to delivering transport projects which improve journeys while also helping economic growth.
"Following the spending review we challenged local authorities to look again at the cost of proposed schemes to ensure we get maximum value for every pound we spend. The councils being awarded funding today have met that challenge by achieving a saving to the taxpayer of £45.5m on the original proposed costs.
“That means more money is now available for other schemes across the country and I would urge other councils to follow this lead as they bid for funding. This will allow us to fund as many schemes as possible, delivering improvements to roads and public transport across the country.”
The nine schemes given the go-ahead are worth more than £365m, and will receive an overall contribution of £275m from the Department for Transport.
