The transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has paid a visit to Wolverhampton to debate the possibilities of devolving rail transport in the West Midlands.

Mr McLoughlin had a meeting with West Midlands Rail (WMR), a group of 14 unity, county and metropolitan authorities, to discuss their proposals for rail devolution.

The meeting appears to have been a success, as the Department for Transport is set to work with WMR to discuss taking the ideas forward.

Mr McLoughlin said: “Giving local areas a greater say over how their train services are run can help drive the improvements to our railways that passengers want. I am pleased that good progress is being made with the WMR consortium to do this in the West Midlands.”
Later, he visited Wolverhampton Station and was briefed on plans for the Wolverhampton Interchange, which recently received a £4.5 million grant from the regional growth fund.