In just under two years the entire fleet of Urbo3 trams on the West Midlands Metro have had their batteries fitted and entered service following the first use in fare revenue earning service by 26 on Friday 10th April. 26 becomes the 21st and last of the current fleet of trams to receive batteries, a task which was started by 18 – the only tram to receive the work back in Spain – which had been accepted for service on 18th April 2018, meaning it just under two years for the whole fleet to be completed.
26 has been receiving the work at Wednesbury Depot for a number of weeks and this was sufficiently advanced for it to be firstly available for testing on Thursday 9th April and then its first passenger use the next day. Unlike some other recent examples of trams which have returned to service after batter fitment, 26 has the full West Midlands Metro blue vinyls including on the battery covers.
It is just under two months since the penultimate battery fitted tram – 27 – had been accepted for service but with a lower number of trams currently required for service as a result of the reduced timetable introduced due to the Coronavirus there was no need to rush 26 back into service.
With 26 now serviceable the West Midlands Metro fleet of Urbos 3 trams is back up to full strength with all trams able to run the entire length of the tramway between Library and Wolverhampton St George’s.
Other news on the West Midlands Metro is that all trams seem to have a section of the tram now reserved for staff use only. This is similar to Stagecoach Supertram where the section immediately behind one cab is out of bounds to passengers to allow the on-board staff a “safe haven” during service.
26 back in service on 10th April complete with batteries.
No entry signs on the doors. (Both Photographs by Andy Walters)