For the first time in around two years, a West Midlands Metro Urbos3 is carrying advertising vinyls following the application of an advert for a new Adidas store at the Bullring on 36. This advert, as usual, keeps the ends of the tram in the fleet livery but the remainder of the tram is wrapped in a mainly pink design.
It was somewhen during Autumn 2023 that one of the 21-strong fleet of Urbos3 trams last had an advert when the vinyls for M is for Metro were removed from 19 (the tram was out of service at the time so just when it last ran like this is not known). You have to go back to August 2021 for when the last new vinyls were added to an Urbos3 (again 19 and the M is for Metro ad). And if you want a commercial advert the last time one of those was applied on an Urbos3 was February 2021 when Marks Electrical advertised on 19 (until August 2021).
All the recent adverts have been put on the newer fleet of Urbos100 trams (eight of them) but Friday 23rd May 2025 saw this change with 36 receiving its new advert for the Adidas Store at the Bullring.
Whilst this is the first time 36 has had a commercial advert it did previously carried vinyls for the My Metro App. Originally applied in February 2019 when the tram carried the hybrid blue/silver livery, these were reapplied in October 2019 when it went fully blue but were back off again in November 2019.
There are currently four trams with adverts again on the network. As well as 36, the others are 45 (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra), 57 (National Trust) and 58 (Birmingham City University).
36 with its new pink vinyls at Wednesbury Great Western Street. (Photograph by Shiv Patel, 23rd May 2025)