In Pictures: West Midlands Metro returns to Library for the first time in over 200 days!

Saturday 12th February 2022 – mark that date in your diaries as that was the date that passenger services between Bull Street and Library in Birmingham City Centre finally started running again. There were 202 days between the last day of service on 25th July and the first day of the resumption on 12th February with trackworks and then tram shortages causing the suspension of services.

In case you weren’t aware there had been no passenger services between Bull Street and Library since Sunday 25th July when from 1900 works on installing the junction to the Eastside extension at Bull Street and relaying tracks along Corporation Street got underway. This was expected to be a three-month closure but the end of October came and went.

Testing on the newly relaid sections did get underway during early November but there was still no sign of passenger services when in mid-November came the news that not only would services not be running beyond Bull Street they wouldn’t be running at all because of the discovery of cracks on some of the trams. Whilst services resumed to Bull Street from mid-December there was still no sign of them running to Library.

Enter January and it was announced that they would sufficient numbers of trams to operate a service to Library by the end of the month. But with repairs and commissioning of extra trams taking longer than expected this date was missed and replaced by 6th February. That was another missed date though with confirmation two days previously that it wouldn’t be happening and at this stage no new date was announced except to say testing would be taking place to Library and services would start as soon as they can.

And as soon as they can has ended up being Saturday 12th February – and confirmation this would happen only came on the previous evening. Its not yet a full service as trams are only running every 12 minutes for most of the day and then every 15 minutes in the evening seven days a week but at least it’s a start to what will hopefully be normality and a period of boring nothing really to report operation.

The first day saw nine trams in service with 19, 21, 22, 23, 29, 34, 36, 39 and 42 all allocated for use.

Testing had been stepped up in the days leading to the resumption of services. On Friday 11th February 40 was being tested on the line and is seen here on Corporation Street during one of these test runs. (Photograph by Mark Cufflin, 11th February 2022)

Another shot of 40 on test the day before public services resumed. This shows it dropping down Pinfold Street towards Grand Central.

This view shows 40 in Victoria Square with the tram just having passed Town Hall stop on its way towards Grand Central. (Photographs x2 by Roland Bull, 11th February 2022)

A tram in service at Grand Central once more! 34 stands at the stop about to depart for Library.

22 at Library awaiting departure for Wolverhampton.

42 calls at Town Hall bound for Library. Note that the destination display shows “Library” whereas the original Urbos3 trams are still showing “Birmingham” – nothing like a bit of consistency!

Despite the late notice of the resumption of services word had got out that trams were back as seen here with 42 arriving at Grand Central on its way to Wolverhampton. Photographs x4 by Andy Walters, 12th February 2022)

  • We will have more photos from the return of trams to Library in a future main site update of British Trams Online.
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