The fourth of the eight Urbos 100 trams already delivered by CAF to the West Midlands Metro has entered service with 42 carrying its first passengers on Saturday 18th December. It managed a full day on this date although when allocated to service again the following day it developed a fault and was returned to depot.
42 was one of the Urbos 100 trams that snuck into Wednesbury Depot without us noticing so its exact date of arrival isn’t known but would likely have been between July and October that it arrived at its new home. As with the majority of the trams its testing and mileage accumulation work seems to have taken place overnight.
42 was first noted in service on Saturday 18th December (when fellow Urbos 100s 39 and 40 were also in action) and in doing so became the fourth of the eight Urbos 100s to be used in service (there are currently 21 of this batch of trams on order but the remaining 13 are not due to be delivered just yet). The other three being 38, 39 and 40 which all entered service on 15th December.
After a succesful day in service, 42 was again in use on 19th December but its use on this day was relatively brief as a fault was discovered on the tram as it was running in service and the decision was taken to retire it to the depot with it terminated at Wednesbury Parkway.
On its first day in service we see 42 sitting at Black Lake. (Photograph by Michael Morton, 18th December 2021)
42 stands in the third platform at Wednesbury Parkway having been declared a failure. 17 is seen alongside.
A closer view of 42 standing at the platform and getting ready to be returned to depot. (Photographs x2 by Andy Walters, 19th December 2021)