It has now been four weeks since passenger services last ran on the West Midlands Metro and an update has now been given on how things are progressing towards a resumption of services although its not yet known exactly when this may be. The original announced on 12th November said that it would be “at least four weeks” before there was a return of services and with this four week having now elapsed the first formal public statement has been made giving details of progress.
As you will no doubt remember the entire fleet of 21 Urbos3 trams was withdrawn from service from 13th November after cracks were found on the bodies. The problem had first been discovered back in June but after a few days and what are now described as temporary repairs a full service resumed. But more cracks were found during November – and with a similar fleet of trams in Sydney, Australia being withdrawn at around the same time – and after discussions with the manufacturer it was decided a permanent repair was needed leading to the complete suspension of the service.
Over the past four weeks these repairs have been taking place at Wednesbury Depot and depending on what source you believe either a third or nearly of the fleet have now received the repairs to allow them to return to passenger service.
The statement on the West Midlands Metro website says: “A programme of permanent repairs to West Midlands Metro’s tram fleet is progressing well and we are confident that we will be able to start a phased return of service within the next week. When services were suspended on 13th November, we said that it would be at least four weeks before enough trams were available to sustain a safe, reliable and robust service. Currently nearly half the fleet has received permanent repairs and this work is continuing. Several new trams are also entering the final stages of testing required before they can enter passenger service. At this stage, we cannot offer an exact date for the return of services, but customers can be assured that we continue to work alongside the tram manufacturer to complete both the repairs and testing process as quickly as possible.”
So, judging by this we should be seeing a return of service in the coming days – giving a much needed boost in the lead up to Christmas and the expected busy shopping rush.