It has now been a little over six weeks since two of West Midlands Metro’s Urbos3 trams were transferred from Wednesbury Depot to the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre in Dudley. The trams – 17 and 26 – have been sent there for repairs to be completed on their bodyside panels.
As most reading this will recall the CAF built Urbos3 trams have had a number of issues with cracks discovered in the body. The latest issues were reported in March 2022 and saw the complete fleet withdrawn for the second time and at that point the decision was taken that the entire class of 21 trams would need body panels – mainly around the doors – replaced instead of welded repairs. This work was started in the spring and up until October had mainly taken place at Wednesbury (except for 28 which went to Wolverton). To add extra capacity for more trams to be repaired 17 and 26 were then sent away to Dudley for the work to take place – 17 made the trip on 25th October and was followed three days later by 26.
Taken from the top deck of a passing bus (and over a wall) this snapshot shows the two trams within the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre. The tram on the left seems to be being worked on with the front skirt having been lifted. (Photograph by Mark Cufflin, 9th December 2022)
This side-on view – with a bit of a reflection on the window – shows the two trams under attention. The tram closest to the camera still has a number of panels removed.
A number of seats and other panelling from within the tram have been removed during the works. Some of those are seen here at the edge of the building. (Photographs x2 by Andy Walters, 13th December 2022)