Metro line to shut for new rails

METRO tram rails along Birmingham’s Corporation Street are to be replaced after just five years – with passengers facing 11 weeks of disruption.

Services to Grand Central and Centenary Square will be shut down from July 25 before the track works are expected to finish in October.

The work will see all of the tracks replaced from Bull Street’s Corporation Street junction right round to Stephenson Street

Grand Central.

Those requiring onward travel within the city centre will be able to use their Metro tickets on selected bus services.

Earlier this month all trams were taken out of service for four days from June 11 following the discovery of a fault on one of the vehicles.

The Midland Metro Alliance said the summer closure of the city centre route would be used to improve ride quality of the vehicles

Work to build the first part of the Eastside link saw Lower Bull Street being fenced off in early June and there is now a barrier across Corporation Street, too, though trams are currently still running alongside it.

The extension from Grand Central to Centenary Square orignally took four years to build and cost £128 million for 0.7 miles of track.

The line was opened just five years ago on May 26, 2016 by Black Sabbath rock star Ozzy Osbourne.