Balfour Beatty has been snubbed for the contract to build the extension of Midland Metro in Birmingham city centre.

The contractor took a fair share of the blame for the delayed £128 million extension project of the city’s only tram line from New Street station to Snow Hill and now the new West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has revealed a new team of contractors and partners who, over the next decade, will deliver four separate tram extension schemes in the city.

Balfour Beatty has not been selected in this partnership group.

The new group will be called the Midland Metro Alliance and is a significant move away from usual practice in major infrastructure projects whereby contractors are selected on a project by project basis.

For this scheme, the WMCA has put together a team which it says will share the risks and rewards of the delivery of the four tram projects, with a particular focus on how the alliance partners will work together and with the community, businesses and stakeholders.

Coming into effect on July 4, the Midland Metro Alliance will comprise of London based rail construction firm Colas Rail, the combined authority and French group Egis Rail, Tony Gee and Pell Frischmann, who both have offices based in Birmingham.

At present, the Midland Metro operates a single line from Wolverhampton city centre to the new Grand Central shopping centre to New Street station.

The proposed new extension of just under a mile of new track from New Street to Snow Hill was initially scheduled to open in summer of next year, however this was ravaged by delays before the service finally commenced in May.

Cllr Roger Lawrence, board member of WMCA, believes that the time has come to introduce a new working mechanism for the scheme, adding that they have constructed a team of international and local experience who will deliver the commitment and skills needed to bring the Metro expansion plans to fruition.