{"id":599744,"date":"2025-11-28T18:47:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T18:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/599744\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T18:47:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T18:47:15","slug":"mayor-joins-tram-test-drive-on-first-stage-of-metro-extension-to-new-bcfc-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/599744\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor joins tram test drive on first stage of Metro extension to new BCFC stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mayor Richard Parker and Birmingham City FC chief executive Jeremy Dale were given a glimpse of the future when they test drove the first stage of a tram extension that will ferry thousands of Blues fans to their new stadium.<\/p>\n<p>The test run, on new tracks between Bull Street and Millennium Point, comes just a week after the club revealed designs for the new 62,000-seater Powerhouse Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>The tracks are the first part of a new route that will eventually link the city centre to the forthcoming HS2 Curzon Street Station, Digbeth and the planned \u00a33 billion Sports Quarter regeneration site and new stadium.<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wmca.org.uk\/media\/z25hb4fa\/5a2a0220-2.jpg?anchor=center&amp;mode=crop&amp;width=700&amp;rnd=131547073580000000\" alt=\"Two men, wrapped up in winter coats, stand in front of a blue tram in a city street. The destination sign on the tram says Sports Quarter\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Mayor Richard Parker and Jeremy Dale<\/p>\n<p>The Mayor said: \u201cExtending this line is key to unlocking the \u00a33bn Sports Quarter investment and providing thousands of new homes and jobs for the local community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBirmingham City FC\u2019s owners have shown immense confidence in our region, with their stunning stadium plans and commitment to regenerate the surrounding area.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is why I invited Jeremy along for this test run. This is the start of an exciting and inspiring journey that we will make together, which will transform this part of Birmingham.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy Dale, chief executive of Birmingham City FC, said: \u201cThe Metro extension will provide a crucial function in connecting the Sports Quarter with the wider city centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to ensure that 62,000 supporters can access the stadium on a matchday and efficient transport links will play a key role in achieving that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing part of the test run and travelling to the first two stops on the journey out to East Birmingham is an exciting first step.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The West Midlands Growth Plan, launched by the Mayor earlier this year, prioritises investment in new public transport infrastructure to not only improve people&#8217;s journeys but also drive business expansion and new housing.<\/p>\n<p>Fresh powers handed to the region by government, including the creation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wmca.org.uk\/news\/mayor-offers-global-investors-more-than-19bn-of-opportunities-to-drive-growth-jobs-and-homes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a new Mayoral Development<\/a> Corporation covering the Sports Quarter area, will allow the Mayor to cut red tape and accelerate regeneration.<\/p>\n<p>Rigorous testing and commissioning of the Eastside extension is happening on the length of track and its two stops at Albert Street and Millennium Point.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Richard Parker and Birmingham City FC chief executive Jeremy Dale were given a glimpse of the future&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,38480,11033,2766,1700,35,393,728,4884,6333,1302,38482,38481,22793,1263,16,15,4950,7858],"class_list":{"0":"post-599744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-combined-authority","11":"tag-communities","12":"tag-culture","13":"tag-economy","14":"tag-energy","15":"tag-england","16":"tag-environment","17":"tag-great-britain","18":"tag-housing","19":"tag-innovation","20":"tag-land","21":"tag-local-authorities","22":"tag-skills","23":"tag-transport","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom","26":"tag-wellbeing","27":"tag-west-midlands"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115628819990755777","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}