WMCA assembles land for new Darlaston station

The West Midlands Combined Authority has bought seven acres of land in Darlaston as part of plan to assemble land to reopen two railway stations. The land at Cemetery Road was sold by St Francis Group, and will form part of wider land assembly to bring rail services back to Darlaston and Willenhall to the north east of Birmingham. The stations will be part of a £3.4bn investment in new transport schemes by the WMCA over the next decade, including suburban rail lines, tram extensions and “Sprint” bus rapid transit services. [caption id="attachment_939571" align="aligncenter" width="847"] Willenhall station CGI[/caption] WMCA mayor Andy Street said: “With ambitious housing and investment taking place on brownfield sites across the Black Country, this is a vital piece of infrastructure which will make a huge difference.” “The work is currently underway to establish what we need to do to get the Wolverhampton to Walsall line usable for passenger services again and we expect an announcement about this soon.” The WMCA’s recent housing deal with government will see a land fund of £100m used to buy and clean up land, and much of it will be focused on the Walsall to Wolverhampton corridor, delivering at least 8,000 new homes. The stations were closed over a half a century ago in 1965. The two new stations are expected to cost around £18m in total and could be open by 2021. To send feedback, e-mail alex.peace@egi.co.uk or tweet @egalexpeace or @estatesgazette