£1bn tram link to new £3bn Birmingham City FC stadium and NEC is biggest priority, says West Midlands mayor.

The mayor of the West Midlands has told Insider that his top goal right now is to build a £1 billion tram link from Birmingham’s city centre to Birmingham City’s projected new £3 billion stadium and on to the NEC. Richard Parker expressed hope that the initiative, which would require hundreds of millions of pounds in public funds, will be included in the government’s Spending Review on June 11. Parker and Birmingham City chairman Tom Wagner have been working hard in recent weeks to convince senior ministers, notably Chancellor Rachel Reeves, to support the idea.

Parker told Insider at UKREiiF: “We’re preparing a prospectus for this program, which we’ll present to the government. We are working on the case in preparation for the Spending Review. “This project is my number one regional priority.” It is envisaged that the first section of the tram link, from the HS2 station in Curzon Street through Digbeth to Birmingham City’s proposed Sports Quarter in Bordesley Green, east Birmingham, will be operational by 2030, when the new stadium is expected to be completed. The tram link is intended to stretch to north Solihull, where it will connect with the £3.2 billion Arden Cross regeneration scheme and NEC.

Wagner, co-founder of Blues’ US-based owner Knighthead Capital Management, stated that adequate transit connectivity to bring tens of thousands of spectators to the proposed Sports Quarter would be vital to its success. He also stated that the investment would considerably benefit east Birmingham, which has pockets of deprivation. “It’s a bold ambition which supports our ambition for growth,” said Parker.

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