Alteration to proposed link road for giant £1 billion West Midlands Rail Freight Interchange lodged

The giant 300-hectare rail freight interchange[1] is being built beside the West Coast Mainline, at Four Ashes, between Cannock and Brewood. The alteration concerns the proposed A5/A449 link road to what is one of the country’s biggest infrastructure projects and which should be completed in the next ten years. The application said: “The proposed change seeks to increase 1no. finished road level spot height on the proposed A5/A449 Link Road from +105.6m above ordnance datum (AOD) to +107.2m AOD.”

The owners said: “The West Midlands Interchange is a nationally significant infrastructure project and is the largest rail-served logistics development in the UK. It will deliver up to eight million sq ft of new logistics space, directly connected to the West Coast Mainline, and up to 8,500 new jobs over the next 10 years. “Four Ashes Ltd has established a project team to promote a new Strategic Rail Freight Interchange at Four Ashes, adjacent to the West Coast Mainline and also close to Junction 12 of the M6 – south of Penkridge.

The development, known as the West Midlands Interchange, would be around 300 hectares in size and is classed as a nationally significant infrastructure project.”

References

1. ^ The giant 300-hectare rail freight interchange (plus.expressandstar.com)