A new report indicates that significant transport projects in the West Midlands, such as the Metro extensions and new railway lines, likely face delays because of an escalation in their costs and growing financial pressures. Officials are therefore faced with concerns over inflation, chain supply problems, and contractor issues. The new mayor Richard Parker has assured addressing these concerns and finding solutions that help in keeping such vital projects back on track.

Major transport projects for the West Midlands, including the Metro expansion and new railway lines, are at risk of missing their completion dates because of higher-than-anticipated costs. The WMCA has warned that high inflation, supply chain woes, and some contractors going bust have variously been blamed for financial problems.

Ex-Mayor Andy Street said he was furious at the news. He said he had left behind a raft of funded projects, including new rail stations, metro routes and better buses. These, he claimed, were all on track when he left.

However, the new mayor, Richard Parker, who took office in May, is worried that these projects might be too spongy and lame, that is, how they are to be funded and completed. Parker said he had immediately, even before taking over as mayor, known problems with these projects. He ordered an independent review to find out why things seemed to be going wrong. It found that promises had been made without enough resources to keep them.

WMCA leaders will meet next week to discuss how to fund these transport projects, and Mr. Street said it would be for the new mayor to scale them back. He said he had experienced many dire situations during his period as mayor and was still intact, including inflation and construction problems. He cited examples, including the Camp Hill line stations and the Dudley Metro extension, which were on course when he left the office.

On his part, Mr. Parker said some of the problems started way before his assumption to office. He accused the former mayor of making wild promises in terms of improvements to transport connectivity in the region. Parker vowed to ‘get to the bottom’ of what exactly has gone wrong with the delivery of these projects.

Among those projects that could be delayed, the report singles out the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro Extension. Other projects would see the second phases of the Sprint bus priority corridor linking Walsall with Solihull and Birmingham Airport. Also, the Kings Heath, Moseley, and Pineapple Road rail schemes, along with the Dudley Interchange, could face a push-back to at least autumn 2025.

Added to that are the Darlaston and Willenhall Stations schemes, the Metro Depot scheme, and Metro Westside Extension and Metro Wolverhampton City Centre Extension, initially projected for completion by the end of this year.

WMCA staff worked at mitigating the financial impact by providing an additional £121 million to manage the pressure. Whereas the projects have over £1 billion of funding until five years, it may not be enough to complete all projects. Particularly, the report has warned that, in case the financial problems are resolved, projects may be left unfinished, and others may not even start. This could also mean losing funding for the region in case they fail to meet their finance targets by March 2027.