Friday 13th October saw the latest West Midlands Metro tram enter service with 58 carrying its first fare paying passengers. It didn’t last long in service on that first day though but it has since seen further use becoming the nineteenth of the Urbos100 trams to be used so far.
58 was delivered to Wednesbury Depot on 9th August 2023 and since then had been undergoing commissioning which includes mileage accumulation, the majority of which takes place overnight. With this completed it was cleared for service and ran its first journeys on Friday 13th October 2023, just over two months after its arrival.
This now means there is just one another tram delivered so far to enter service. That is 55 which arrived on 5th October 2023. We are also still waiting the delivery of 52 which is the final one of the original 21 tram order.
58 approaches Priestfield with a service heading to Edgbaston Village. (Photograph by Andy Walters, 16th October 2023)
We also see 58 at Corporation Street in Birmingham City Centre as it calls at the stop on the way to Wolverhampton Station. (Photograph by Mark Cufflin, 18th October 2023)