Lorry gets stuck on Midland Metro tracks

Midland Metro services were into Birmingham City Centre were suspended for nearly six hours on Tuesday 31st January after a lorry driver got lost which ended up which his vehicle becoming stuck on the grassed section of track between Bull Street and St Chad’s.

The lorry – which was carrying concrete safety barriers – was reported as being stuck on the line at around 0620 meaning that trams from Wolverhampton St George’s were being turned at St Paul’s whilst a recovery operation was put into place. It took until 1030 for the lorry to be pulled off the tracks by winch but as it was pulled back along the tracks it caused considerable damage to the grassed track which required attention before a full tram service could be resumed.

Trams were running through to Grand Central from around 1220 albeit with delays as the full service was resumed.

The lorry driver – who video footage of the incident shows was shielding his face, presumably from embarrassment – apparently told rescuers that he was making his way to the M6 and presumably once he was free continued his journey.

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5 Responses to Lorry gets stuck on Midland Metro tracks

  1. Paul says:

    Very strange how it ended up there, the driver must have used upper bull st but there are clear signs saying tramway, I can see British Transport fining drivers in the future for trespassing on a tramway or midland metro installing barriers that open when a tram is 2/3 yards away.

  2. Bob Hodges says:

    Perhaps British tramways should consider gates to protect the reserved sections of track from errant vehicles, there is one in Paris on line T7 which goes to Porte de L’Essonne (near Orly airport). The gate is actuated by the approaching tram and is at the point where the trams turn off Avenue de la Gare in Rungis on to a grassed reservation. Almost all of the Paris tram routes are on reservations, private track, or in streets with restricted vehicle access, fortunately the wide Parisian boulevards make the reserved track sections possible, the trams being largely unaffected by heavy traffic etc.

    • Nigel Pennick says:

      Gates may work in France but experience with rising bollards for buses in Cambridge shows they fail frequently in England (they have been got rid of now and replaced by cameras!). Maybe they actually do break down in France equally – I haven’t seen a comparison. Anything that can fail and hold up the service is a bad thing.

  3. Peter Rivet says:

    Is this another case of a lorry driver using an out of date or unsuitable satnav system, and ignoring all the road signs?

  4. Kevin says:

    Once again this raises other questions not just about tramways? was this person fit and actually capable of driving his lorry safely? Its grass! Anyone knows you don’t make roads out of grass!

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