A decision on whether to fund the Midland Metro extension will not be made until early 2008, the Government announced last week.
Junior transport minister, Tom Harris, said the earliest that it could receive Transport Innovation Funding would be late next year or early 2008.
‘Based on an approval date of January 2008, the promoters estimate that the total cost would be some £409M,’ he added.
This exceeds the initial estimates of £383M, which were based on receiving conditional approval in 2006 – ‘which, of course, will now not happen,’ Harris told MPs.
His comments were made in response to Stourbridge MP, Lynda Waltho, who said failure to deliver the extension ‘could condemn the region to terminal decline’.
The two-prong extension would see one run from the existing terminus of line 1 through the heart of Birmingham city centre to Edgbaston, while the other would run from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill.
A spokesman for Centro said it welcomed the Government’s demand to integrate the extension with other public transport schemes, including bus, rail and light rail, in order to receive funding.
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