The number of trams available for service on the West Midlands Metro continues to increase with 57 the latest Urbos100 to carry passengers for the first time – although its debut in service didn’t quite according to plan all down to a broken down bus! As 57 makes its first moves in revenue earning service it can also be reported that another of the Urbos100s – 53 – has returned to action having not been seen much after its initial debut.
57 had been delivered on 10th May 2023 and after testing, mileage accumulation etc. it was cleared to join the operational fleet with its first passenger journeys being recorded on Saturday 3rd June 2023. The gap between delivery and entry into service would appear to be the quickest of all of this class of tram – 24 days by our (by our we mean Google’s!) calculation. Hopefully this is a good sign that commissioning of trams has now reached the stage where it is much simpler and can be achieved quicker.
Running in service 57 was going about its business as would be expected perfectly fine until the 1035 departure from Wolverhampton St George’s. It made it all the way to Edgbaston Village as timetabled but once there got stuck for a while as a bus broke down in Five Ways underpass (heading for the city) meaning there was no way through for trams. During this disruption trams were turned at Library.
Saturday 3rd June also saw 53 in service. You may recall that this tram had entered service back on 24th April but it was a brief entry as it was shown sidelined with a fault. This fault is obviously now fixed though as it has returned to service once more.
Now that 57 has entered service, 14 of the 16 Urbos100s delivered (of 22 expected to be delivered) have now carried passengers.
57 gleams in the sunshine at Wolverhampton St George’s about to form the 1035 departure to Edgbaston Village. This was its first day in passenger service.
53 calls at Black Lake on its way to Wolverhampton St George’s. (Both Photographs by Michael Morton, 3rd June 2023)