Deal signed for fitting of Urbos 3 batteries

It’s official, Midland Metro’s existing fleet of Urbos 3 trams are to be fitted with batteries following the signing of a contract between Centro and CAF. The groundbreaking – for the UK – deal will see the first tram move to Spain for the fitting of the batteries with the remaining 20 trams being dealt with at Wednesbury Depot.

As we reported earlier this year Centro are planning to introduce sections of line on forthcoming extensions of Midland Metro without overhead wires (for both cost and aesthetic reasons) and to enable all trams to operate on these sections they are to be fitted with lithium ion batteries. These will be fitted on the tram roof and recharged by overhead lines along those parts of the route which retain them.

James Aspinall, Managing Director of Centro, said: “This is an exciting new development for the Midland Metro as it will be the first tram fleet in the country to operate in this way. By upgrading these vehicles we are cementing the role of tram as an important means of public transport for the region.”

The first section of line which will be built without overhead wires is the entirety of the Centenary Square extension (due to open in 2019) with the following other future extensions to see sections of battery operation:

* Birmingham-Edgbaston extension from Centenary Square to Brindleyplace and through the underpass at Five Ways

* Birmingham Eastside extension between Moor Street Queensway and Digbeth High Street stop including under the proposed HS2 station at Curzon Street

* Wolverhampton City Centre extension between the bus station and railway station

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10 Responses to Deal signed for fitting of Urbos 3 batteries

  1. Paul says:

    Could 26 be the candidate for the trip to Spain for batteries and repairs following last weeks accident

  2. Andy Coward says:

    I wouldn’t be surprised if 17 becomes the tram chosen to go to Spain.

  3. John Brookes says:

    A folly which will ultimately bite Centro on its rear!

    • Barry Manilow says:

      And why’s that, John?

      • John Brookes says:

        Their is no requirement for Centro to go down this route, so to speak. This is a case of ‘showmanship’! I spend most of my working day dealing with large capacity Li-ion batteries. They are incredibly temperamental and have reasonably short lives. £2m to equip 16 vehicles with something that may only have a useful life of about 5yrs! And for what, to save a few eye bolts on a few buildings!

        • Peter Watts says:

          The batteries on the Alstom Citidis trams in Nice have been running since 2007 now. They are used in two sections of the tramways, and all service pass through these sections in each direction, therefore the batteries are being used quite significantly. Although there have been 2 incidents over the years, Nice still considers this option as being superior to the surface contact system adopted elsewhere such as Bordeaux.

  4. Kevin Critchfield says:

    Lets hope it works out when the batterys are fitted

  5. Clifford Stead says:

    I agree John, they are on a highway to nothing, an expensive folly. Hugely expensive, unpredictable and a short life.

  6. John Gilbert says:

    I say merely that if the batteries are to be fitted to enable wireless operation in truly significant areas, e.g. Centenary Square, then all well and good. But if this is just a typical British niggardly, short-sighted cost-cutting exercise on all sorts of future lines which have NO architectural merit whatsoever, then it is simply ridiculous – or comic? Consider France where wires are replaced only in special areas, and often then with a surface contact system. Sadly Birmingham simply doesn’t have many of these areas so wires, especially these days when they are not noticeable, really should be retained.

  7. Nigel Pennick says:

    We will have to wait and see if the lifespan of these batteries makes them economically worthwhile. In Wolverhampton where the station extension is to be wireless (work beginning soon), this is a re-run of Wolverhampton’s early 20th century attempt to do without wires with the Dolter surface contact system, which ironically was replaced by double overhead wires for trolleybuses, just as were the north London conduit system lines in the 1930s. The Germans occupying Brussels in World War 2 strung up overhead tram wires to abolish the conduit system there, and the conduit system was not reactivated after the war. So the history of wireless systems so far is a story of wires being put up eventually. But perhaps 21st century batteries will do the job.

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