Transport review ordered after West Midlands Mayor blames predecessor for over-promising

ITV News Central can reveal a major review of transport projects in the West Midlands will be carried out, following the announcement of delays to several key infrastructure projects.

The openings of new stations and tram lines have either been pushed back or had decisions deferred - in order prevent a projected overspend of £121 million.

Labour's Richard Parker, who was elected in May, blamed his predecessor Andy Street for making "grand promises... without the resources to fund and sustain them."

Richard Parker said: “Before I was elected I could see that the previous Mayor’s grand promises for additional transport connectivity in the region weren’t being delivered....

“I am now very concerned about number of significant issues that have been brought to my attention regarding the funding, delivery and delay of major transport projects in the region."

The opening of three new railway stations along the Camp Hill line in Moseley, Kings Heath and Stirchley, which had already been delayed until the end of 2024, will now not open until autumn 2025.

Dudley's new tram line linking it with Wednesbury will also not open until a similar time.

Papers to be presented to the West Midlands Combined Authority board blame “ongoing delivery challenges” which are “posing a risk to programmes.”

Continuing: “It is likely that these projects will move from early 2025 completion to Autumn 2025. The team continue to work to mitigate these programme challenges with close commercial and contractual management of sub-contractors.”

"These projects need to be delivered"

Richard Parker continued: “The Combined Authority team have already made some changes to the way they work, but I want to go further and that is why I have instigated an in-depth independent review of all transport projects, to be undertaken in partnership with our local authorities.

“Commitments and promises have been previously made about projects, without the resources to fund and sustain them.

“But to be clear, I will deliver a transport network that works for the people of the West Midlands, and to do this it is crucial that we do invest in our infrastructure.

“These projects need to be delivered. But they need to be delivered in the right way which means working with real figures, with actual funding, realistic timescales and not making promises that simply can’t be kept.”

Other projects have been deferred until 2027, when another round of funding is expected from central government.

They include a tram line extension along Birmingham's Hagley Road and a new railway station in Aldridge.

What other projects could be on hold ?

• the Aldridge Station and Hagley Road projects

• the Wolverhampton Interchange Programme, partially deferring the Cross City Bus scheme

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"Cost pressures" were blamed leading to a decision to concentrate funds onto projects where diggers are already in the ground.

The paper notes that if everything which had been committed to were to be built, that would lead to an overspend of £121 million.

"He is the Mayor now, not me, and it cannot be right to try and pass responsibility on"

In response, Andy Street said:

“I’m really saddened and disappointed to see today’s political game playing over an issue so critical to the success of the West Midlands and its citizens. “When I left office I bequeathed to the new Mayor billions in devolved transport funding, with an incredible pipeline of funded projects including new rail stations, metro routes, bus improvement measures, and active travel schemes as part of my 2040 transport plan.

"This was on top of having a cycling and walking commissioner in place, and ongoing work with Greater Manchester and the private sector on a replacement for HS2 North.

"I had made many transport pledges I was ready to deliver thanks to the funding we’d secured, and truthfully I had expected to see them delivered and credit go to the new regime.“If the Mayor is now taking the decision to scale-back these plans then that is up to him and him alone. He is the Mayor now, not me, and it cannot be right to try and pass responsibility on.

"I would urge the new regime to rise above party politics"Mr Street added:

“There were no end of challenges with transport projects when I was Mayor - not least around inflation and construction challenges. But every time I sat down with officers and my team and worked through the problems to get schemes back on track.

"That was certainly the case with the Camp Hill line stations and Dudley metro extension, which were on track to their revised timetables when I left office. “Ultimately the only people today’s announcement affects are the innocent transport users across the West Midlands.

"The region needs better connectivity, and so I would urge the new regime to rise above party politics, show strong leadership, and get tough with officers and contractors to continue delivering the region’s transport plan.”