Metro Sports Quarter extension backed by £2.4bn fund

Plans are already moving forward to extend the Metro tram system in Birmingham, mayor Richard Parker has said, after the government announced a £2.4bn investment in the West Midlands.

The funding, revealed before the government's spending review next week, will go towards extending the Metro to the new Sports Quarter that is expected to have Birmingham City's new stadium at the heart of it.

Parker told the BBC that the money, matched with a £3bn investment from Blues' chairman Tom Wagner, will help create links for some of the city's most deprived areas.

He said it would also create up to 8,000 jobs as part of an "economic transformation".

Parker told BBC Radio WM: "It's fantastic news, it's a great day for the city and for the region.

"We've been to number 10 Downing Street, we've met with the Transport Secretary, and we put the case forward with conviction.

"The new transport link will connect the community to where the opportunities are, where the jobs are - this is just the start of it."

The Metro network currently connects Edgbaston and the centre of Birmingham with Wolverhampton, via West Bromwich.

The new route would go east, through Digbeth and the new HS2 station at Curzon Street to the Sports Quarter.

Parker said the investment would essentially "unlock" the transport commitments he had previously made, adding: "It'll be paying for itself three or four times over, and the uplift will be given to some of our most disadvantaged communities in East Birmingham."

The BBC understands a further £250m will be awarded by the government next week.

Speaking on the timeline of the plans, Parker said the planning work had already begun.

An agreement with HS2 is already in place to begin tunnelling under Curzon Street to move the metro from the city centre, he said.

While the project is "a couple years away from significant progress", Parker said there was no shortage of "commitment or conviction".

An outline planning application is due to be submitted in the autumn.

Parker said: "There's going to be action on a multiple number of fronts to deliver the project as fast as possible."

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, said the announcement reflected a "welcome shift" toward a city region-led approach.

He said: "Investment in the transport networks of our city regions is a critical step toward boosting local economies, by helping people access jobs and education opportunities more easily."

This is a significant investment in the West Midlands that will go some way to allay the criticisms made earlier in the year when ministers seemed surprised that large-scale investment in Heathrow wasn't being celebrated in other parts of England.

The chancellor has decided to rewrite the rules of the Treasury's Green Book, which sets out how public money should be spent, to allow her to splash the cash in parts of the country that have often missed out.

The fact this cash is tied to the Spending Review is critical - that is to say the money is not just being announced, it is coming, and in Birmingham it also unlocks the £3bn of private investment from Birmingham City's billionaire owner Tom Wagner, who plans to redevelop the east of the city containing some of the most deprived communities in the country.

It is news the government will hope cuts through, ahead of more difficult announcements in next week's Spending Review.

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