New tunnels under central Birmingham, quadrupling the Wolverhampton to Coventry line and development of new rail corridors are amongst the long-term options for the West Midlands rail network in 30 years’ time.
The interventions are suggested in the latest update of the West Midlands Rail Executive’s Rail Investment Strategy 2022-2050, which was published in September to reflect changes since its first edition in 2018.
The strategy points out that by 2032 the region’s population will have increased by 900,000, with further major growth anticipated in the 2030s and 2040s. WMRE argues this ‘will require yet more significant growth of rail capacity to meet future passenger and freight demand and enable further modal shift to rail’. To meet those demands, the authors call for ‘radical change’ and the investigation of ‘challenging and prospectively high-cost options’, which will be necessary after completi…
