Official Midland Metro Thread

[Qoasis777]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVxgrMXKr6s

posted by another user on the Snowhill Phase 2 thread.

Fantastic fly through CGI of the new extension through the city centre!!! Check it out!

[ROYAL BLUE]

Oh dear, do they know something we don't about Snowhill block 3 we don't?

Great quality video mind.

[Engels]

Great to see the flythough - looks all set to link into another line though. Now this extension is actually hapening Centro / BCC need to get moving on the Airport line plans.

[ReissOmari]

The detail of that vid is fantastic, its not just box plain buildings, its like real! As for snowhill 3.. I have nothing to say

[Typhoon2000]

Originally Posted by simbastyles

should buy alstom they are brill

Hmm.. Eurostar don't think much of their trains though... lol!!

[simbastyles]

well all the trams and new underground trains in Barcelona are Alstom and we dont seem to have any problems even with their driverless underground trains on line 9 no problems.

[blahblah]

I think that the removal of all those bus-stops on Corporation Street and their replacement with just one metro stop will have a very positive impact on the retailers on there.

[Erebus555]

It will certainly open up the streetscape massively. I hope it comes with a repaving for Corporation Street as well - the bricks automatically appear grimy. And, dare I say, it the removal of a few trees so you can actually appreciate the architecture.

[blahblah]

Not just that, it's that walking past those busy bus stops to get into some of those stores can feel intimidating. Also. Birmingham bus drivers are lunatics and drive way too fast down there which makes crossing corporation street intimidating too. Even using the pelican crossing by GAP you sometimes feel like you're taking your life in your hands!

The Metro trams will move in a much more controlled manner and allow people to cross Corporation Street more freely and at more points.

[Erebus555]

I've never seen experienced any dangerous drivers around there (well, not bus drivers anyway). I usually find that it's way too congested for bus drivers to act recklessly, but hey I could just be walking with my eyes closed...

[U475 Foxtrot]

The bottom of the McDonald's ramp is particularly bad. If you we're unfamiliar with the the city you could easily come a cropper here.

There are no doubt more but the number of deaths from Buses round here the the frequency to me is shocking.

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/t...7319-25623530/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/w...ds/8670921.stm
http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/mi...7319-28283025/
http://road.cc/content/news/18925-fa...-him-walk-free
http://www.birminghammail.net/news/b...7319-26583770/

[neon18]

Midland Metro extension to New Street is a step closer
28 March 2011 Last updated at 17:01

A £3.19m bridge which will take the Midland Metro into the heart of Birmingham has been completed.

The bridge over Great Charles Street Queensway is described as a key part of the Metro extension.

The line from Wolverhampton currently terminates at Birmingham Snow Hill but will continue on to New Street station.

Transport chiefs say trams should be running on the 1.3km (0.8 mile) extension through the city centre by 2015.


The trams will run from Snow Hill to New Street

Metro 'milestone'

Metro services will come off the existing approach to Snow Hill station and over a new viaduct.

The trams will then follow a route down Upper Bull Street, Corporation Street and on to Stephenson Street before terminating at New Street station.


The new bridge has cost £3.19m

Centro, the West Midlands integrated passenger transport authority, said that the extension plans would create 1,300 sustainable new jobs and boost the region's economy by £50m a year.

Chief executive Geoff Inskip said the completion of the bridge was a "very important" milestone in the project to open up the city centre to the tram network.

"This is a major step forward for a scheme that is going to bring massive economic benefits for the entire region and create thousands of jobs," he added.

Design work for the on-street section of the extension is under way and Centro expects preliminary site works to start in 2012.

Mr Inskip said: "[There is] quite a lot of work to do, but by 2015 we should have the trams right the way through the city centre to New Street."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-12883219

[neon18]

Birmingham city centre to be car-free zone as part of of Metro plan
by Edward Chadwick, Birmingham Post, Mar 29 2011



A £127 million tram scheme meaning cars will be banned from some of Birmingham’s main city centre roads has taken a step forward.

Transport bosses have unveiled a new bridge which will carry the tracks from their current terminus at Snow Hill and through the heart of the city centre,.

The concrete structure over Great Charles Street Queensway has cost £3.19 million and was finished within six months of the scheme being approved by the Government.

It will pave the way for the Midland Metro to travel along Bull Street, Corporation Street and on to Stephenson Street where it will stop outside the revamped New Street station.

Corporation Street, Bull Street and Stephenson Street will be traffic free, with buses rerouted.



Both projects which will mean trams running through the city centre for the first time in 60 years are scheduled for completion on 2015.

The extended tramway will act as a platform to expand the network to the proposed high speed rail terminus as Curzon Street.

As a stunning new computer-generated video of modern trams gliding though city was made public, transport chiefs promised that it would bring new jobs and investment.

“This is fantastic news for the Midland Metro and for the people who use it, especially as it has come in on time and on budget,” said Geoff Inskip, chief executive of regional transport authority Centro.



“This is a major step forward for a scheme that is going to bring massive economic benefits for the whole region and create thousands of jobs.”

Centro is inviting bids from manufacturers for a new fleet of bigger, faster trams and a maintenance depot in the Black Country.

Work will start to lay the tracks as early as the end of next year, once four new city centre bus interchanges are operating and have taken traffic off Corporation Street.

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/w...5233-28419315/

[ROYAL BLUE]

Technically cars are already banned from most of the streets affected.

[Qoasis777]

that's not news Royalblue.

However this is big news - the moving of the buses is key to the Metro coming to the city centre. Once this happens the Metro will come to the streets of the city!

[fruit&nut]

Originally Posted by ROYAL BLUE

Technically cars are already banned from most of the streets affected.

Except for the Chavs (mostly in old BMW's) who either can't read or think their too cool for the signs to apply to them.

[fruit&nut]

"A £3.19m bridge which will take the Midland Metro into the heart of Birmingham has been completed."

Funny how they claim it's finished, and yet they had Great Charlie St closed last night and a crane on site.

[Erebus555]

Removing equipment from the site?

[ReissOmari]

Originally Posted by fruit&nut

Except for the Chavs (mostly in old BMW's) who either can't read or think their too cool for the signs to apply to them.

Not chavs, just show offs with there friends, normally in BIG cars tumping loud music looking out the window for attention

[Soul_13]

Originally Posted by fruit&nut

Except for the Chavs (mostly in old BMW's) who either can't read or think their too cool for the signs to apply to them.

true true