As expected Friday 5th September saw the introduction into passenger service of four of the CAF built Urbos 3 trams on Midland Metro with an official launch ceremony taking place at Birmingham Snow Hill attended by Sir Albert Bore, Leader of Birmingham City Council and Cllr Darren Campbell, Leader of Sandwell Council. The tram used at the launch ceremony was 20 and the first day also saw 18, 21 and 23 in service.
5th September is to be the only day that Urbos 3 trams will be seen running to Wolverhampton St George’s ahead of the 12 week rail replacement work taking place between that stop and The Royal. As part of this work the platforms at St George’s will be extended to allow two Urbos 3 trams to stable there at the same time.
The first of the Urbos 3 trams arrived in Birmingham on 11th October 2013 and was then officially launched at a special ceremony on 16th October. Since that date 17 has been joined by a further 12 vehicles (18–29) with the latest example having arrived just earlier this week. Several of the trams have been seen out and about on the Midland Metro network operating test and driver training runs with recent weeks having seen at least one tram out during the day as they sought to operate 1800km fault free running before they could be cleared for service.
Although there are 13 Urbos 3s in Birmingham it is understood that currently only four have been cleared for service with mileage accumulation and full commissioning still required on the remainder of the fleet. 20 of the trams are on order and it is expected that at least one example will be delivered to the Wednesbury Depot per month until the remaining seven have arrived. It is planned that gradually more Urbos 3s will enter service and as this happens more of the original T69s will be formally withdrawn from service. Currently five have been taken out of use (01, 02, 03, 13 and 14) and by the turn of the year it is likely all will have been withdrawn. The introduction of the Urbos 3s will also enable a higher frequency service to be introduced with trams running up to every 6 minutes vastly increasing capacity (40% more capacity will be possible).
Geoff Inskip, Chief Executive of Centro, said: “Not only will these new trams bring immediate benefits for passengers they will also transform the Metro’s profile when they become a common sight on the streets of Birmingham city centre. This is an important development for our region because the Metro can serve as a catalyst for economic growth, helping to unlock new areas of land for development, especially around the HS2 station in Eastside and the bus and rail stations in Wolverhampton. The extension between Snow Hill and New Street Station alone will boost the region’s economy by more than £50 million a year and create 1,300 new jobs. The future extensions in Wolverhampton and Birmingham will build on that still further.”
Midland Metro is about to embark on an expansion with the first extension – from Snow Hill Station to New Street Station through Birmingham City Centre – due to open to passengers in 2015. A further £90 million has recently been earmarked by the government for two further extensions which would see trams run along Broad Street to just west of Five Ways in Edgbaston and to the planned HS2 station in Eastside. In addition there are plans for an extension through Wolverhampton City Centre to reach the railway station with the business case for this now having been submitted.
The old and the new meet at The Royal with 18 and 04. From 6th September there will be no trams here during rail replacement work.
23 runs down Bilston Road.
21 stands at Wolverhampton St George's.
And then departs the stop.
The fourth Urbos 3 in action was 20 and it is seen here along Bilston Road. (All Photos: Ian Nightingale)
it will be great when the trams run to five ways and to eastside