Sprint is a bus rapid transit scheme under construction in the West Midlands, England. The project is developed by Transport for West Midlands.
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Sprint is a bus rapid transit scheme under construction in the West Midlands, England. The project is developed by Transport for West Midlands.
In July 2014, it was announced that a new BRT bus-tram service "featuring vehicles that look and operate like a tram but without tracks", named Sprint, would be introduced on the Hagley Road, which would connect with the Metro's Line One extension. [1] Viewed as 'Metro's Little Sister', Sprint is intended to offer a higher level of service quality than standard bus services, and will feature some bus priority measures, like bus lanes and priority signalling to speed up service. Sprint should grow demand, and improve connectivity in areas which do not yet fully justify Metro access. [2] Centro stated that the new City Centre-Quinton route was chosen primarily for its potential for economic growth. [3] The route will have 16 stops. [4]
 | This section needs to be updated.(November 2022) |
Plans remain for the 'Quinton line' but priority was given, [5] following the award of the 2022 Commonwealth Games to Birmingham, for a cross-city route from Walsall along the A34 road, passing by the Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr to Birmingham City Centre and on to Birmingham Airport and Solihull. Work began in April 2021 with the aim to be complete before the Commonwealth Games start in July 2022. [6] [7]
As of August 2024 [update] , no Sprint vehicles have been commissioned.
Future routes are proposed to Stourbridge, Longbridge and Sutton Coldfield and Dudley. [8]
In 2014, money was also allocated for a service to Birmingham Airport "by 2021". [1]
The West Midlands Metro is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. The network has 33 stops with a total of 14 miles (23 km) of track; it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via the towns of Bilston, West Bromwich and Wednesbury, on a mixture of former railway lines and urban on-street running. The system is owned by the public body Transport for West Midlands, and operated by Midland Metro Limited, a company wholly owned by the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Smethwick is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies 4 miles (6 km) west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before being placed into then West Midlands county.
Birmingham is a major transport hub, due in part to its location in central England. The city is well connected by rail, road, and water. Public transport and key highways in the city are overseen by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM).
Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament between 2001 and 2024 was Labour's Khalid Mahmood. The MP as of July 2024 is Ayoub Khan, who ran as an Independent.
Perry Barr Railway Station is a railway station in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, and is one of the oldest continuously operated railway station sites in the world, having first opened in 1837. The station has been rebuilt several times, including electrification of the line in the 1960s, and most recently in 2021-2022.
West Midlands Bus route 11, also known as the Birmingham Outer Circle, is a 27-mile (43 km) route that circumnavigates Birmingham via the A4040 apart from a small deviation via the B4182 and A4030 in Bearwood. It is operated by National Express West Midlands. It operated in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions as routes 11C and 11A, however since July 2021 the service was split so 11A buses would terminate at Perry Barr and then return as an 11C to Acocks Green, with 11C buses terminating at Erdington, returning as a 11A service to Acocks Green.
Bloxwich is a market town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is located between the towns of Walsall, Cannock, Willenhall and Brownhills.
Quinton is a suburb and ward of Birmingham, England, 5 miles (8 km) west of the city centre. Formerly part of Halesowen parish, Quinton became part of Birmingham in 1909. Quinton was a village and the surrounding area was farmland until the 1930s when the first housing estates were developed. Most of the farmland had been built on by 1980 but some countryside remains in the form of Woodgate Valley Country Park. Along with Bartley Green, Harborne and Edgbaston, Quinton is within the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus franchising and highway management powers similar to Transport for London. TfWM's policies and strategy are set by the Transport Delivery Committee of the WMCA.
The West Midlands Metro is a passenger light rail line in the West Midlands conurbation in England, which opened in 1999. Its rolling stock consists of 21 CAF Urbos 3 trams which came into service in 2014/15, replacing the older T-69 trams which had operated the line since 1999.
Wolverhampton station is a railway station in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England on the Birmingham Loop of the West Coast Main Line. It is served by Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Trains services, and was historically known as Wolverhampton High Level. It is also a West Midlands Metro tram stop.
The Walsall–Wolverhampton line is a railway line in the West Midlands, England. It connects the town of Walsall to the city of Wolverhampton. The complete line does not currently have any regular scheduled passenger services: The line's local passenger service was withdrawn in 1965, it was restored in 1998, only to be withdrawn again in 2008. At present, the main use of the line is by freight trains, and it is also used as a diversionary route when engineering works are carried out on the West Coast Main Line.
Diamond Bus Ltd., trading as Diamond West Midlands, and also operating under the West Midlands Bus brand identity, is a bus operator in the West Midlands. It is a subsidiary of Rotala.
National Express West Midlands(NXWM) is bus operator in the West Midlands of England. It is a subsidiary of Mobico Group and is the largest bus operator in the region, as well as one of the single largest in Britain.
West Midlands Bus route 50 operates in Birmingham, England. It operates from Central Birmingham to Druids Heath via Moseley, Kings Heath and Maypole along Alcester Road, it is one of the busiest bus routes in Europe. Route 50 was introduced in 1949 and is currently served by National Express West Midlands and Diamond West Midlands.
The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was the public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom from 1969 until 2016. The organisation operated under the name Centro from 1990, and was publicly branded as Network West Midlands from 2005.
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is the combined authority for the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom. It was established by statutory instrument under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. It is a strategic authority with powers over transport, economic development and regeneration. The authority formally came into being on 17 June 2016.
One Stop Shopping Centre is a shopping centre and retail park in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England. It is immediately adjacent to the A34, Walsall Road. It is an outdoor retail area around a free car park, next to a bus and railway station which was updated ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
