West Midlands Metro to Wolverhampton Railway Station to open on Sunday!

Its been a long time coming – some may say a very long time coming! – but Sunday 17^th September is set to see the West Midlands Metro extension to Wolverhampton Railway Station open to the public for the first time. The news comes as driver training is declared a success and all the infrastructure is working as expected.

The first tram to Wolverhampton Railway Station will depart at 0741 on Sunday 17^th September and the first day will then see a 12 minute frequency for much of the day in a standard Sunday timetable. As had already been announced there are still works at Wolverhampton St George’s so the start of services to the station will mean that only the extension is served with the original line into St George’s to resume in the coming months.

The planned service for the extension will be:

Monday to Friday

• First tram from Wednesbury Parkway at 0456
• First tram from Edgbaston Village at 0515
• First tram from Wolverhampton Railway Station at 0515
• Then every 10 minutes until early evening
• The frequency is then every 15 minutes
• Final departure from Edgbaston Village to Wolverhampton Railway Station is at 2330
• The last tram from Wolverhampton Railway Station to Edgbaston Village is 2330 and the last from the Station to Wednesbury Parkway is 0030

Saturday

• First tram from Wednesbury Parkway at 0456
• First tram from Edgbaston Village at 0515
• First tram from Wolverhampton Railway Station at 0515
• Then every 10 minutes until early evening
• The frequency is then every 15 minutes
• Final departure from Edgbaston Village to Wolverhampton Railway Station is at 0000
• The last tram from Wolverhampton Railway Station to Edgbaston Village is 0000 and the last from the Station to Wednesbury Parkway is 0100

Sunday

• First tram from Wednesbury Parkway at 0741
• First tram from Edgbaston Village at 0800
• First tram from Wolverhampton Railway Station at 0800
• Then every 12 minutes until early evening
• The frequency is then every 15 minutes
• Final departure from Edgbaston Village to Wolverhampton Railway Station is at 2300
• The last tram from Wolverhampton Railway Station to Edgbaston Village is 2300 and the last from the Station to Wednesbury Parkway is 0000

The opening of the extension will see two new stops join the network – Piper’s Row for Wolverhampton Bus Station and Wolverhampton Railway Station. Both stop will give excellent connections for onward travel and this is being publicised as news of the opening is announced.

Sophie Allison, Interim Managing Director of West Midlands Metro, said: “With two new stops and services up to every 10 minutes, this latest extension to our tram network is set to deliver a wealth of benefits for both new and existing customers. Visitors from outside the area by bus or train can simply hop on a tram for onward travel to some of the region’s top cultural and sports venues, while local communities will benefit from an even better-connected transport network. We can’t wait to welcome them aboard our trams.”

Laura Shoaf, Chief Executive of the WMCA, said: “It has been a complex construction process, working in a busy city centre, and we know it has been a frustrating time for local people and businesses. But it is fantastic now to see the extension ready to open and welcome passengers on board. As a result, Wolverhampton is now a better-connected city with the transport interchange it deserves, supporting local businesses while opening up new job and leisure opportunities for residents. It also makes it easier than ever to choose public transport – helping us to reduce congestion and tackle the climate emergency.

“The good news is that we are not stopping in Wolverhampton. Work on further extensions into Sandwell and Dudley and the Eastside of Birmingham city centre are well underway – investment in convenient, comfortable, and sustainable tram network that will benefit the region for years to come.”

The extension has been much delayed (its hard to keep up but it must be opening at least two years late) with the reasons for this having been down to complex construction, the war in Ukraine and supply issues due to Brexit. But those delays should now be a thing of the past and Sunday 17^th September will be a day to celebrate its opening.

As mentioned above although trams will get to the Railway Station from this date, it will be a little while longer before there are two operational termini in the city. There will be no trams to Wolverhampton St George’s until the autumn as the Midland Metro Alliance need to complete system integration activities and street scene improvements in the coming weeks. When this work is completed services will alternate between the two lines – which should mean there will be a tram every 7-8 minutes into the city.

• The new timetable to run from Sunday 17^th September is available at https://westmidlandsmetro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/WOL-EDG-Timetable-.pdf

Driver training has been continuing in recent weeks, in this view 34 is at the one intermediate stop on the line on Piper’s Row adjacent to Wolverhampton Bus Station. This is the platform for trams heading to the railway station.

45 was also on the line on this visit.

The new Wolverhampton Railway Station building, which was partly to blame for the significant delays in the project, is the backdrop for this image of 40.

And here we see 42 having just come onto the extension on Piper’s Row. (All Photographs by Dan Noon, 30th August 2023)