Sunday 15th March saw the start of full driver training on the West Midlands Metro extension to Millennium Point, as preparations ramp a gear ahead of services starting on the first phase of the Birmingham Eastside extension. A temporary timetable has also been introduced onto the network during the driver training to ensure that all drivers are getting the chance to be cleared for the new line.
The temporary timetable means that all trams from Wolverhampton St George’s (which only resumed a week ago) are terminating at Bull Street. The tram then goes onto the extension via way of the delta junction and heads to Millennium Point. It then returns from there to the junction and goes onto Corporation Street where it starts to pick passengers up again to Edgbaston Village. The return trip from Edgbaston Village runs to Wolverhampton St George’s with no diversion.
Services from Wolverhampton Station continue to run as normal to Edgbaston Village.
With the St George’s service only running Monday to Saturday, the first day of this temporary timetable was Monday 16th March and unfortunately things didn’t run exactly as planned with severe bunching of trams. At one stage there was a convoy of five trams heading north from Birmingham towards Wolverhampton and this was soon followed by another three trams in close proximity.
On Monday 16th March trams 23, 30, 36, 39, 43, 47, 49, and 58 were in service on the St George’s service which meant that they all headed onto the extension.
Albert Street is the only intermediate stop on this first phase of the extension and features an island platform. With fencing and cones removed the stop can be seen clearer than during earlier testing as we see 47 here during driver training. (Photograph by John Binch, 16th March 2026)
58 was also out and with its Peaky Blinders wrap and Steven Knight name is seen using the crossover at Millennium Point itself.
The stops are all ready for passengers with all the literature now stuck up in readiness for the start of services.
43 also being used for driver training onto the extension. (Photographs x3 by Andy Walters, 16th March 2026)