Julian Knight MP has welcomed proposals from Mayor Andy Street and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) to bring forward a new rapid-transit bus route from Solihull to Birmingham City Centre.
TfWM aims to have seven routes of its new Sprint system up and running by 2026 – but has chosen the one to Birmingham Airport via Solihull to be one of three high-priority routes completed by the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Sprint aims to provide tram-level service, such as off-board ticketing, multi-door access, and free wifi, and run on dedicated bus lanes to provide a reliable service during peak times.
Creating the route will entail the construction of new bus stations and other improvement works at several points along the route, including Lode Lane and Hobs Moat, and Julian urges any resident likely to be affected to attend the public consultation in Mell Square on Saturday 15th September, 9am to 3pm.
Commenting on the consultation, Julian said:
“A new Sprint route from Solihull to Birmingham will hopefully offer residents a fast, comfortable, and reliable new way of getting into the city centre. This is just the sort of joined-up, pro-growth policy we need from regional devolution.
“Thousands of Solihull residents travel regularly into the city for work and leisure, and I’m very pleased that Andy Street has recognised that this route should be top priority.
“If anybody has any questions or concerns about the proposals or the necessary roadworks, I encourage everybody to put their questions to TfWM at the consultation on September 15th.”