DUDLEY town centre looks set to be on track to get a passenger rail link for the first time in more than 50 years.

Council chiefs have announced they are planning a £20m scheme to create a link from Castle Hill to Dudley Port station on the line to Birmingham city centre.

The authority has formed a partnership with Warwick Manufacturing Group, which is keen to use Dudley’s disused rail lines to test new Very Light Rail (VLR) technology.

Cllrr Khurshid Ahmed, Dudley cabinet member for transportation, said: “This is tremendous news that Dudley, with its proud manufacturing history, is once more going to be at the forefront of developing new technology as the innovation centre will be where the trains are developed.

“It is fantastic news for the people of Dudley that within the next few years we will once more link the town to the national rail network.

"This will support the current multi-million pound investment in regeneration in the town centre, will have positive impacts on the economy of Dudley and the Black Country and has the potential to bring in tens of thousands more visitors to the tourist attractions and the town.

“In the longer term we could re-open the line back into Dudley near the bus station and through to Brierley Hill and Stourbridge.”

It is hoped work will start next year to re-open a mothballed track from the former Dudley station to Dudley Port and the project could be complete within five years.

Bids will be made to fund the project from the government’s Regional Growth Fund and Europe, plans include a new innovation centre on council-owned land off Station Drive and Tipton Road at the bottom of Castle Hill.