Monday 18 July 2022

Businesses urged to have their say on Shrewsbury-Black County-Birmingham rail route

Midlands Connect is currently exploring options to improve the rail service between Shrewsbury, the Black Country and Birmingham and have launched an online business survey and urging firms to ‘make their voices heard’.

The survey builds on work released last year in Midlands Connect’s Rails to Recovery report, which also found that electrifying the route through Telford and the Black Country and extending London services to Shrewsbury could create up to £500 million of benefits for businesses and residents by making the trains hourly to London from Shrewsbury.

Improvements to the Shrewsbury-Black County-Birmingham rail line we hope could make it easier for your staff to commute, help your company grow and give you better access to the nation’s capital through a new direct train link.

We are urging local businesses throughout the route to complete a short survey, which will support our future strategy along this route.

This survey will close on Monday 5th September 2022, with results to be announced soon after.

Click here to take the survey, which will take just a few minutes to complete.

Midlands Connect also plan to submit a business case to government in the coming weeks for improvements on the line.

Commenting on the survey’s release, Midlands Connect Senior Rail Programme Manager Tawhida Yaacoub said:

“We are calling on employers and businesses in Shropshire, the Black Country and Birmingham to get involved in our online consultation to make their voices heard. We want to know what the impact could be on them if we improve the rail route and specifically, if it could lead to more jobs and growth in the local economy.

“The data given to us by local firms will be weaved into the business cases we are submitting to government to help make the case for investment in this regionally critical rail route.”