Major new travel hub will feature ‘living roof’ of plants
A MAJOR new Black Country transport interchange will feature a roof that will breathe a little life into the daily commute.
The multimillion-pound Dudley bus and tram interchange will accommodate buses, Sprint rapid transit vehicles and trams which will serve Wednesbury, Dudley and Brierley Hill.
The existing Dudley bus station deals with more than 5.2 million passengers and nearly 500,000 bus departures each year.
An application to build the hub has now been submitted to Dudley Council by Transport for West Midlands.
The application follows the recent decision by the West Midlands Combined Authority, which operates Transport for West Midlands, to put £10 million towards the estimated £18 million cost of the project.
Subject to planning permission, the new interchange could be completed by 2022 – ready for the scheduled opening of the Metro extension in 2023.
Cllr Keiran Casey, the council’s cabinet member for regeneration, added: “This is another major step forward in terms of improvements in local transport and connectivity for Dudley and for the regeneration in the town centre.
“It is one of a number of projects in the pipeline at the moment which will make a massive difference to Dudley.”