Birmingham’s proposed city centre tramway would boost regeneration and improve access to jobs, according to the senior Government adviser behind the approval for the latest Midland Metro extension.

His views were backed by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling who said road congestion was a very real problem in Birmingham and that high quality public transport services were needed to encourage motorists out of their cars. 

The Secretary of State, who visited the city earlier this week, gave the go-ahead for plans by the West Midlands public transport body Centro to extend the tram network from Snow Hill to Five Ways, via New Street Station.

The extent of his support became clear as details of the approval were released.  Alistair Darling’s views were contained in a 7,000-word decision letter to Centro, following a public inquiry into the £72m scheme.

He agreed the Midland Metro extension would provide a significant improvement in the quality of the city’s public transport services, offering faster journey times and new journey opportunities. 

Tony Jeapes, who heard the public inquiry on behalf of the Secretary of State, said the plans would advance the regeneration of the city and would produce socio-economic benefits by improving public transport and access to jobs and services, particularly for deprived communities in the inner city and for persons whose mobility was impaired.

After hearing evidence over four weeks during December 2003 and January 2004, the Inspector came to the conclusion that modern trams on Birmingham streets could improve the environment, boost the vitality of city centre business and would not have an adverse impact on historic buildings.

The proposed 3.2km route runs along several prime retail streets in the city centre and past a number of important business premises – but the Inspector was satisfied that Centro’s proposed construction method would reduce disruption to a minimum and that the city centre would remain open for business throughout.

“The completed scheme, together with the planned traffic reduction measures, would improve the vitality of local businesses by reducing congestion in the city centre and improving the general environment,” he advised.

Alistair Darling agreed that, in the longer term, the impacts of the scheme would be beneficial for city centre traders.  The Government decision also commented on the improved air quality that would result from the introduction of the electrically-driven trams.  The Inspector concluded, and the Secretary of State agreed, that the pedestrian environment throughout the scheme would be improved.

Some time at the public inquiry was spent considering the impact on Birmingham Town Hall and the Secretary of State has called for particular care to be taken in agreeing the details of the tram stop close to the historic building.  Overall, the inquiry found that the Metro extension would be designed to a high quality and that by reducing street clutter and the number of vehicles, the settings of listed buildings would not be adversely affected and may even be improved.

The public inquiry process considered a total of 143 objections, mostly of a technical nature.  Sixty percent of these were subsequently withdrawn, as Centro and the city council were able to satisfy many of the concerns. 

On the complicated issue of re-routing city bus services, Alistair Darling ruled that revised arrangements for the Bus Mall would allow for trams to run along Corporation Street and Upper Bull Street.  The city’s major commercial bus operator Travel West Midlands had raised concerns following the closure of part of the bus mall for safety reasons in 2003. However negotiations between Centro, Birmingham City Council and the bus company were successful, clearing the way for yesterday’s Government decision in favour of trams.

Centro and the policy-setting West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority are now hoping the city council will reaffirm its support for the extension to Metro line one, allowing the project to proceed to the next stage of submitting a final business case.  Provisional Government funding for the scheme was given in 2000 when the Department for Transport agreed an interim business case.