A major rail interchange which could create up to 8,500 new jobs in the West Midlands has been approved by the Government.
First unveiled in 2016, the West Midlands Interchange will be built on around 615 acres of land at Four Ashes near junction 12 of the M6 in Staffordshire.
Once completed, it will have an intermodal freight terminal with direct connections to the West Coast Main Line, capable of accommodating up to ten trains per day including container storage and HGVs.
There will be around eight million sq ft of rail-served warehousing and other service buildings along with parking and staff facilities.
Other planned work includes new roads and upgrades to the existing network, including a link between the A5 and A449,landscaping and open space such as alterations to public rights of way.
The Secretary of State for Transport has approved the 'Development Consent Order' for the project, a decision on which was actually due in February, despite years of protest by local campaigners about the scheme.
There will now be a six-week period in which the decision may be challenged in the High Court.
A consortium called Four Ashes is behind the scheme which it is hoped will shift large quantities of freight off the motorway and onto the rail network, cutting congestion and helping the environment.
The land, near Featherstone in South Staffordshire, will benefit from its proximity to the West Midlands' motorway network, Jaguar Land Rover and i54, A449 and Four Ashes train station.
West Midlands Interchange will be targeted at major occupiers from sectors such as logistics and retail which are seeking locations where they can base large-scale operations, with estimates suggesting benefits of more than £400 million to the local economy.
The Four Ashes consortium is led by Surrey-based Kilbride, which specialises in rail infrastructure to serve business and industry.
The majority of the land belongs to Piers Monckton, whose family owns the nearby stately home Stretton Hall, while Grosvenor, the international property group owned by the Duke of Westminster Hugh Grosvenor, is a funding partner.
Kilbride has previously worked with Jaguar Land Rover on developing its rail transportation capabilities at its plants in Castle Bromwich and Merseyside.
The project is expected to take around a decade to complete in its entirety once construction starts.
