Plans to bring a modern tram system to Dudley have moved another step forward with the latest confirmation of private sector support.

Public transport body Centro has come to an agreement with the company behind the £100m regeneration project for Castle Hill.  The project aims to revitalise the Dudley Zoo and Castle with a range of new attractions and experiences, including a dinosaur themed attraction called Origins, a themed rail link to the Dudley Canal Trust Heritage centre, a garden centre and 65 homes.

“We consider this redevelopment vital to improving Castle Hill, bringing in more visitors, and the Metro will be one of the ways those visitors arrive,” says Dudley Zoo chief executive Peter Suddock.

The Government-approved Midland Metro extension from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill, via Dudley, passes right by the Zoo and Castle.  It means future visitors will be able to get to the leisure attraction more easily and the Castle Hill developer St Modwen has agreed to pay for a tram stop as part of the agreement.

“Centro and St Modwen have worked closely together to come to this mutually beneficial agreement.  Castle Hill will have a top quality tram link to help people get easily to its new attractions which is great news,” comments St Modwen director Derek West.

It is the latest deal to be struck by Centro-PTA, which hopes to have trams running by 2011.

The public transport body is working together with developers along the route to help open up development opportunities and to enable the new tram line to be built more quickly once work gets underway.  In March it also secured a £35 million contribution from the owners of the Merry Hill Centre.

“The Metro extension is a huge step forward in improving the quality of life for local people, and this agreement underlines the determination of everyone to work in partnership to quickly deliver first class public transport to the Black Country,” says Cllr Roger Horton, PTA lead member for Metro.

As well as the stop at Dudley Zoo, the 11km Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro route will have 13 other easy-access stops serving shopping and business areas in Dudley town centre, as well as Great Bridge, Dudley Port (connecting with local train services), the Waterfront and Merry Hill before terminating near High Street, Brierley Hill.  The wider Midland Metro network would also provide connections with Wolverhampton, West Bromwich and Birmingham city centre, including New Street Station.