Railway schemes not affected by government cuts

Railway schemes in the West Midlands will not be affected by government cuts to major projects, transport bosses have confirmed.

Earlier this week Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the £500m Restoring Your Railway Fund (RYRF) would be axed in a bid to plug a budget gap of £22bn.

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) said there were no RYRF projects in the area.

Projects under way across Birmingham and the Black Country include three new stations on the Camp Hill Line at Moseley, Kings Heath and Pineapple Road. These are not impacted by the announcement but have been deferred until 2025.

Earlier this month, West Midlands Combined Authority Board agreed the deferral of major transport projects in the wake of £121 budget pressures.

As a result schemes such as building the new stations, including ones at Willenhall and Darlaston, and Phase One of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension have been put back by a year.

Others which had not yet started the construction phase, such as the new Aldridge Station have been deferred until future funding is available.

Mayor Richard Parker said a review looking into how projects are governed, how decisions were made and how they were being made accountable is now underway.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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