Metro extension through North Solihull welcomed

BRINGING the Metro line to North Solihull could be a major boost for the area, a borough councillor has claimed.
Councillor Ian Courts, cabinet member for managed growth, has said that Solihull Council is currently looking at ways to harness the economic benefits of HS2.
But there are also plans to link the multi-billion pound rail link in with other transport projects.
Key to these efforts will be bringing the Metro line down through East Birmingham and into the north of the borough.
Speaking at the most recent meeting of the council’s HS2 Implementation Advisory Group, Coun Courts said that the arrival of the trams would be a major boon to areas such as Chelmsley.
“[This project] would be an amazing way of not just connecting the areas, but giving access to the people in between,” he said.
“If you imagine a Metro going through [Chelmsley Wood], it would be something else.
“The unemployment is highest along that route ... and to have a Metro that can provide connectivity one way to Birmingham and the HS2 Interchange at the same time would be a good thing.”
The extension of the Metro to Solihull was previously agreed as part of a devolution deal struck between the Government and policy makers in the West Midlands.
It has been suggested in the past that the 17km stretch of line, terminating near the new Interchange Station will be completed by 2026.
A report presented to the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) last year, said that the scheme would play a key role in the regeneration of some of the region’s most deprived communities.