You will finally be able to get on a tram to Albert Street and Millennium Point from Easter Sunday, 5th April 2026, as the opening date of the latest West Midlands Metro extension has been confirmed. This is the first phase of the Birmingham Eastside extension – a line which, saw construction get underway in 2021!
The extension will see trams leaving the current Birmingham City Centre line by way of a delta junction at Bull Street/Corporation Street and then travel for a short distance (the exact distance doesn’t seem to be mentioned but is thought to be less than 0.5 miles) to a temporary terminus at Millennium Point via one intermediate stop at Albert Street.
It is all on street running and for part of its alignment it shares with buses (plenty of chances for Trams &!). Overhead wires are in place as far as Albert Street with trams then running for the remainder of the route on battery power.
The stop at Albert Street is an island platform with tracks either side whilst the terminus at Millennium Point is just a single platform on the right-hand side as trams arrive from Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Both stops will remain in zone 1 in the zonal ticketing map.
The first tests on the extension started on 5th August 2025 and after the start of driver training in late 2025 it was hoped that the line would be able to open ahead of Christmas. However, issues with the signalling were found which delayed this, and it wasn’t until 15th March 2026 that full driver training got underway. But now with this finished it will be possible to start public services.
Obviously the opening of a new route – regardless of its length! – means a new timetable. The positives of the revised timetable include the fact that Wolverhampton St George’s is now served all day, every day (currently only 0700-1900 Monday-Saturday) but this does mean that at off-peak times Wolverhampton Station will only be served by every other tram again.
The new service pattern will be:
- Wolverhampton Station to Edgbaston Village (direct)
- Wolverhampton St George’s to Edgbaston Village via Millennium Point
- Edgbaston Village to Wolverhampton Station (direct)
- Edgbaston Village to Wolverhampton St George’s (direct)
You will notice this means the extension will only be served by trams from the direction of Wolverhampton with all those from Edgbaston Village avoiding it (as has been the case during training). So anyone wanting to travel from Edgbaston Village can either get off at Corporation Street or Bull Street and walk, or alight at Bull Street and wait for another tram.
This service pattern also means the frequency of trams is a bit uneven (presumably the times given are averages). During the main part of the day Monday to Friday it will be up to every 10 minutes between The Royal and Edgbaston Village and up to every 8 minutes from Edgbaston Village to The Royal. The frequency to and from the two Wolverhampton termini will be every 15 minutes.
Whilst Saturday still sees the overall 15 minute frequency from Wolverhampton it works out that from The Royal to Edgbaston Village its up to every 9 minutes and the reverse direction is up to every 12 minutes.
For Sundays its every 20 minutes from the direction of Wolverhampton and every 15 minutes in reverse. The actual frequency to and from the two Wolverhampton termini is every 24 minutes.
Journeys from Wolverhampton Station to Edgbaston Village will be 57 minutes and from Wolverhampton St George’s to Edgbaston Village via Millennium Point it will be 65 minutes. In the reverse direction the Edgbaston Village to St George’s direct service takes 53 minutes (Wolverhampton Station is the same length).
Sophie Allison, West Midlands Metro Managing Director, said: “The launch of services to Millennium Point marks another important milestone in the expansion of the tram network and the two new stops will initially see trams every 15 minutes.
“They’ll deliver a wealth of benefits for local businesses and the travelling public by connecting another vibrant part of the city centre to the wider tram system.”
Sandeep Shingadia, Executive Director at Transport for West Midlands, said: “his new extension will bring people close to the places where they work, study and visit, while supporting local businesses.
“It is just the beginning of a much wider transformation of our Metro network to connect more communities, open up new opportunities to help our region grow and make travel easier and more accessible for everyone.”
- The new timetable can be viewed at https://www.westmidlandsmetro.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/WWM-BEE-Timetable-MAR26.pdf