Since 1986, there have been plans to redevelop the station to become part of the local West Midlands Metro tram network, with the line reopening between Wednesbury, Dudley Port, Dudley, and the Merry Hill Shopping Centre, with trams on one track and freight on the other. After 30 years of delays and difficulties in securing funding, the scheme got the go-ahead from the government in the autumn of 2016, with clearance of vegetation and the remaining track getting underway early in 2017 and full scale work would begin around two years later, with the line being open by 2023.