I am calling for £50,000 to be spent on a feasibility study to move forward plans for the ‘Stourbridge Dasher’ rail service to link the town to Brierley Hill.
I've just been to see Revolution VLR's hybrid diesel electric powertrain in Ironbridge - a train that could be used on the line.
Earlier in the week I spoke in parliament on the need for the extension from Stourbridge Junction into Brierley Hill and the wider West Midlands network.
The Dasher will be transformative. It will run along an old passenger line and extend the branch line, and restore an important economic link. It is railway restoration at its very best. The Dasher would reinstate passenger services on a four-mile, freight-only branch line between Stourbridge Junction, and Round Oak and Brierley Hill, and the terminus at Brierley Hill would link it to the West Midlands Metro tramline extension, which is expected to open in 2025.
Of 1,500 people surveyed in my constituency, 87% were in favour of the Dasher and would make use of it.
It would link Stourbridge to the wider Black Country, opening passenger travel between some of the region’s most deprived areas. It would be good for areas such as Amblecote and Brierley Hill, with stations planned at Vicarage Road and Brettell Lane, and good for jobs by increasing the ease of travel, taking the burden off roads such as the A461, and sparing residents from frequent traffic jams.
Pre Metro Operations has done a brilliant job of putting together a business case, through work done out of dedication and love of the branch line, and with innovative thinking.
I am genuinely excited about the future possibilities of making the Stourbridge Shuttle into a Dasher.
I will continue to work hard to find the £50,000 and I will discuss this with the Department for Transport and the West Midlands Mayor.
