Third service suspension for West Midlands Metro
on the West Midlands Metro line between Wolverhampton and Birmingham have been suspended for a third time in nine months due to concerns about cracks in the Caf-built Urbos 3 tram fleet.
Services on the popular route were withdrawn midway through the day on March 19, with operator Midland Metro Ltd stating an ‘operational reason’ for the suspension. Later in the day it was announced that services would not be running on March 20, which was then followed by confirmation that services would not be reinstated ‘until further notice’.
The latest issue concerns further cracks that have been discovered in the bodies of some of the Urbos 3 trams, and is understood to be a different fault to the one that saw services stopped for five weeks in November and December last year.
In a recorded statement on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street apologised for the latest disruption to services and said: “We were told of a new safety concern coming from the manufacturer CAF which was different to what we had before. It’s about cracking in the bodies, particularly around the doors. When you get an instruction like that, all the trams have to come out immediately. “I know this is deeply frustrating for passengers who are relying on it. I’m sorry. I know it’s an unacceptable situation. I’m ultimately responsible, but I am holding those who are responsible for this to account, so I have spoken directly to the CEO of the manufacturer to impress the need for a reliable service and to get this repair done, and once and for all, to be sure we have a safe service that everyone can rely on.”
The Urbos 3 fleet, numbered 17-37, entered service on WMM between 2014 and 2016. Eight new CAF Urbos 100 trams (38-45) have also been delivered to Wednesbury in preparation for the extension of services to Edgbaston Village and Wolverhampton Railway Station (which Mr Street announced would be opening in June, just before the latest tram problems were discovered).
It is anticipated that these new trams, delivered within the last year, will be mainly used to get services running again as soon as possible while repairs and a solution are found the address the Urbos 3 problems. A further 13 Urbos 100 trams (46-58) are on order but have yet to be delivered.