COMMUTERS across the West Midlands are promised better public transport, reduced congestion and upgraded bus and train stations after new government investment was announced.
The region will receive almost £1.2billion from April 2025 to improve transport connections.
Smaller cities, towns, villages, and rural areas across the West Midlands – including Warwickshire – will receive a share of the funds, reallocated from the scrapped northern leg of the controversial HS2 high-speed rail link.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Through reallocating HS2 funding, we’re not only investing almost £1.2billion directly back into our smaller cities, towns and rural areas across the West Midlands, we’re also empowering their local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matters most to them.
“The Local Transport Fund will deliver a new era of transport connectivity. This unprecedented investment will benefit more people, in more places, more quickly than HS2 ever would have done.”
The funding, which will be available between 2025 and 2032, can be used for projects including refurbishing bus and rail stations, filling in potholes, better street lighting, building new roads and improving junctions.
Maria Machancoses, chief executive of Midlands Connect, said: “This funding represents a significant investment in our region’s infrastructure. The Midlands contributes more than £90bn to the UK economy, and to boost that even more, we need reliable transport networks and investment in new technology.”
