The twentieth CAF built Urbos 100 tram has now entered service on the West Midlands Metro, some six weeks since it was delivered to Wednesbury Depot. The tram to have now carried its first fare paying passengers is 55 which was used in service for the first time on Tuesday 14th November 2023.
55 was delivered to the West Midlands on 5th October 2023 and after arrival has been going through the standard commissioning and mileage accumulation before being cleared for service. With everything OK it was passed over to the main operating fleet to allow it to enter service for the first time on 14th November 2023 – it didn’t the start the day in service but took over a diagram from 57 at 0912.
55 is one of the quicker entries into service of recent months having taken just 41 days, but is not the quickest of the fleet to have the delights of carry passengers on the network.
With this entry into service there are actually no trams currently waiting to be prepared for this to happen. Although there does remain another tram to be delivered with 52 set to come from Spain and start the process again later this year.
55 approaches Grand Central on the way back north to Wolverhampton for its second northbound trip with passengers on board.
Wednesbury Great Western Street is the location for this shot of 55 as it works to Edgbaston Village. (Both Photographs by Andy Walters, 14th November 2023)
Any news on 59