Transport has always played an important role in the success of Black Country industry. The ability to move people and goods around helped establish the foundational industries here that drove the Industrial Revolution. After all, this is where steam power began.
Building a world class transport system is also a powerful way of driving investment into the region, boosting business. In this column I want to tell you about plans for the ‘Midlands Rail Hub’, game changing new proposals that will drive jobs and housing, and boost business.
Rail investment has been key to the renewal of the West Midlands. For a start, unprecedented investment in HS2 is bringing significant regeneration as well as supporting thousands of existing jobs in construction.
My own plans for the local public transport network has seen Wolverhampton station reborn, while work is underway to reopen others at Willenhall, Darlaston and Aldridge that have been closed since the 1960s. Alongside all this the Metro network continues to grow, including the depot at Wednesbury.
However, our local rail network still lacks capacity, in a way that often affects the whole country.
The £1.4 billion Midlands Rail Hub proposals will sort those capacity issues once and for all, expanding the network by 14.6 million seats per year. The plans would relieve the bottleneck at New Street station, for example, by expanding Moor Street to link up with the neighbouring HS2 station.
Of course, winning investment of this level is all about building a compelling business case, and I am now lobbying hard to get the Government to proceed with the plans.
The economic benefits of the proposals are there for all to see. They will drive footfall to our city and town centres and open up areas to business investment. They will also give 1.6 million people easier access to the benefits of HS2.
Analysis shows that, for every £1 spent on the Rail Hub plans, the economy will get £1.50 back. It will also safeguard 1,600 quality jobs in construction. The figures stack up.
But it’s how the Midlands Rail Hub will help deliver Levelling Up that is perhaps most exciting. While HS2 will connect our part of the country with North and South, the Rail Hub will enhance the network right here, in the heart of England.
Too often, as the nation debates the so-called North-South divide, the Midlands gets overlooked. The Midlands Rail Hub will better connect the economic powerhouses of the Black Country and West Midlands with our neighbours in the East Midlands, supercharging the economy here. It will provide a foundational investment that will link our communities like never before. As I have said many times, when the Midlands are doing well, the UK does well.
Rail has never been more important. The pandemic saw passenger numbers hit, but patronage is growing again here. It’s vital that we keep investing.
In London, Crossrail cost somewhere in the region of £14 billion. At £1.4 billion, the Midlands Rail Hub represents just a tenth of that price tag yet will improve the economic prospects of the Black Country, the wider region, and huge swathes of the UK.
Transport has always played a big part in the success of the Black Country. If Midlands Rail Hub gets the green light, it would be ‘full steam ahead’ for better connectivity, more investment and a boost for business.