Dudley Council and Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) — part of the University of Warwick — are planning to reconnect Dudley to the national rail network by reopening a railway line that was closed to passengers in the 1960s.

They also plan to build a “light rail innovation hub” in the town centre that could create 50 jobs.

Under the £20 million scheme, a Very Light Rail (VLR) line will be built to link Dudley to Dudley Port railway station in Sandwell, which has a rail link to Birmingham city centre.

The innovation hub will be built on the site of Dudley railway station. A line would also be built for testing the new vehicles created in the innovation centre. The council says that work on the scheme could start in 2016.