West Midlands Mayor Andy Street says it’s ‘full steam ahead’ in the campaign for a new railway station in Tettenhall – after local residents backed the idea in a survey.
Mr Street, who heads up the West Midlands Combined Authority, joined prospective local MP Stuart Anderson to launch the survey to see if local people would back the ambitious plan.
Now, the two have pledged to campaign to take the idea to the next stage – using valuable information collected by the survey, which attracted more than 2000 replies.
“A new station would link this area with Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Coventry to the east and Shrewsbury and Telford to the west,” Mr Street said.
“The first step was to find out if the idea had community support. Thanks to this survey, we now know that the support in the community is strong enough, so we can take the campaign forward.”
Mr Anderson, prospective MP for Wolverhampton South West, said: “Public transport, economic opportunities and access to services and all need to be improved for the people of Wolverhampton.
“That’s why we believe it’s time to seriously look at providing a new railway station for Tettenhall, Aldersley and the surrounding communities.”
The idea for a Tettenhall station follows advanced proposals to reopen long-closed stations at Darlaston, Willenhall and Aldridge, as well as in South Birmingham.
“Across the West Midlands real progress is being made on re-opening stations for communities in Birmingham and Walsall – if there, why not here?” asked Mr Street.
The survey, which was delivered to thousands of homes across the area by councillors and volunteers, asked which destinations local residents would like to reach by rail from a new station, how often they would use it and even what it should be called.
It found:
Almost 3 out of 4 people thought the new stations should be called Tettenhall
3 out of 4 people would use it for shopping and leisure
Almost half of local residents said they would use it at least once a week
More than half of respondents wanted to see more railway stations opened
Locals say they would use the new station to visit Birmingham and Wolverhampton more than any other destination
Almost half of respondents said that Wolverhampton City Council wasn’t doing enough to improve public transport and tackle congestion
Mr Street said: “Residents have helped us greatly by filling in their survey, enabling us to understand the level of support, to help make the case for progressing with the idea of a new Tettenhall station.
“The next stage will be securing an official feasibility study and building a business case. This is what has already happened in areas where plans for new stations are more advanced, where planning applications have been lodged, land has been purchased and funds allocated by the Government.”