Can the mayors fix our trains to the North?

Plus: Birmingham City Council 'resets' itself

Good morning readers — welcome to Wednesday’s Dispatch.

Today’s Brum in Brief leads on a cross-party team-up between the two most powerful politicians outside of London. There’s also a wonderful CBSO performance happening tonight and a heads-up about a soothing evening of solitude for Gaza at Centrala on Friday.

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Brum in Brief

🌤️ Sunny intervals and a gentle breeze.

🚆 Andy Street and his Manchester counterpart Andy Burnham have teamed up to establish a private sector group to improve rail connections between the Midlands and the north of England. The Railway Gazette reports: “The mayors said the Birmingham — Manchester corridor running through Wolverhampton and along the West Coast Main Line is one of the most congested and unreliable routes on the network.”

💸 Equal pay was top of the agenda for Birmingham City Council’s monthly meeting last night, following a recent report into governance at the local authority. Birmingham Live reported: “Leader John Cotton said they needed to transform the way the council works and added that urgent work is already underway to 'reset' the organisation.”

🆙 The University of Birmingham has received £20 million in Levelling Up funding to support economic redevelopment. The money will pay for a new centre focused on decarbonising homes. The website reads: “The new Centre will enable the rapid scaling up of the deployment of heat solutions which are necessary to meet carbon reduction targets.”

🎤 Elvis Costello will play at Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall for the first time in 30 years next September. The BBC reports: “Elvis Costello, 69, last appeared at the Civic in 1982 and 1994, external, performing with the backing band The Attractions.”

🎻 Tonight’s performance at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra sounds excellent. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla will conduct an evening of Eastern European composers. The website reads: “There will be gripping new discoveries from her personal favourite Mieczyslaw Weinberg and Čiurlionis, the “Lithuanian Elgar”, takes us on a walk through the forests.” 7.30pm. Tickets from £26.

Associate Artist Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. Photo by CBSO.

🍉 This one is for Friday but I’m including it here so readers can plan ahead: Centrala is holding a peaceful evening of music and poetry, and a vigil, for Gaza. Their website says: “Let the power of music and poetry transport you, as we stand together in unity for the Palestinians in Gaza.” 6-9pm.