Bus station £1.5million makeover ahead of 2021 Coventry City of Culture
A £1.5 million upgrade is planned for Coventry’s Pool Meadow bus station as the city prepares for 2021 City of Culture and Birmingham’s 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The bus station’s facelift will see the installation of new electronic passenger information screens, new LED lighting and colour scheme, refurbished public toilets, new benches, bins and planters.
Pool Meadow, which is operated by Transport for West Midlands, was built in 1994 and currently handles about five million passengers a year.
“Pool Meadow is more than a quarter of a century old and was already due for a facelift and upgrade to ensure it remains clean, comfortable, and easy to use for passengers,” says Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands. “But with City of Culture now right around the corner, we thought we would seize this unique opportunity to do something special with Pool Meadow around the theme of art and culture to make it a destination its own right.”
Ian Ward, WMCA portfolio holder for transport and leader of Birmingham City Council, adds: “This makeover for Pool Meadow is the latest example of how we are investing in bus facilities and services across the region to make it more comfortable, more convenient and better value for people to use bus services.
“This includes working with our Bus Alliance partners to introduce contactless fare payment on all services, smartphone apps with live journey information, upgrades to our bus stations and shelters to make the wait a more comfortable experience, increase the number of electric buses to cut pollution and soon we will be introducing fare capping to ensure best value through the Swift travel card.”