It has been over a month since we last saw a West Midlands Metro tram transported by road (52 arrived at Wednesbury on 22nd November followed by original T69 16 going to Dudley a couple of days later) so its obviously well overdue for another one to be on the move! Tuesday 30th January saw the first modern tram move of 2024 with 27 departing on the back of a low loader.
27 becomes the sixth tram to leave the West Midlands Metro depot at Wednesbury for storage at Worksop, following on from 17, 26, 29, 34 and 37. This is a secure storage facility owned by Harry Needle Rail Company, mainly used to house mainline rail vehicles but since last August also providing home to some of the WMM Urbos3 trams with storage space at Wednesbury being at a premium during construction works.
27 is another tram which isn’t particularly a stranger to taking a road trip as it had previously been sent to the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre in Dudley for repairs to be undertaken to the bodyside cracks issue. It went to Dudley on 9th December 2022 and returned on 23rd January 2023.
This is another tram which had been used in service relatively recently but its immediate future is now off-site storage. It should be noted that this is only expected to be a short-term measure as once the depot works are completed there will be enough storage for all the trams in the fleet – both Urbos3 and Urbos100 trams.
Whereas previous moves have been in the hands of Allelys, this time it was Reid Freight who were contracted to complete this move. And its expected that there will be more WMM trams on the move again soon.
27 on the back of the lorry as it prepares to leave.
Taking a sharp turn as it departs.
Underneath the tramway with another tram above. (All Photographs by Andy Walters, 30th January 2024)