Last week we reported how Midland Metro\u2019s fleet of T69s seemed to be enjoying a resurgence and that rumours of their imminent demise were premature, but the past week has seen another reversal of fortunes with only three of the class seeing use on a daily basis. The remaining seven daily diagrams have been in the hands of the new Urbos 3 vehicles which seem to settling down into regular operation better over recent days.<\/p>\n
The three T69s which have seen use the majority of the week have been 06<\/strong>, 12<\/strong> and 16<\/strong> \u2013 all vehicles in the original livery which at least provides a bit of variety in colour on the line \u2013 with 10<\/strong> still switched on at the depot as a spare. As for the remainder of the vehicles all of these have seen their pantographs lowered and they are now stored at the back of the depot yard. This includes celebrity liveried 11 which was noted outside of the workshops with its front skirt removed during the week. Of the vehicles remaining at Wednesbury it is known that 03<\/strong> is withdrawn and it is believed that 08<\/strong> has also been officially withdrawn although only time will tell if the others (04<\/strong>, 05<\/strong>, 09<\/strong>, 11<\/strong>) have also run their final passenger journeys in the West Midlands.<\/p>\n The rapid decrease in use of the T69s has been made possible by the increasing reliability of the Urbos 3 trams with eight of these trams now passed for service. These are 18<\/strong>, 19<\/strong>, 20<\/strong>, 22<\/strong>, 23<\/strong>, 24<\/strong>, 25<\/strong> and 26<\/strong> and it is expected that a further two of the class will soon be handed over to the operational fleet (including 27). When this happens it will mean that the entire weekday service could be handled by the Urbos 3s, although this would not allow for any spares.<\/p>\n The advice to anyone wanting to sample the delights of the T69s on Midland Metro is to get them whilst you can as it really does seem that, after one previous false start, the end is rapidly approaching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week we reported how Midland Metro\u2019s fleet of T69s seemed to be enjoying a resurgence and that rumours of their imminent demise were premature, but the past week has seen another reversal of fortunes with only three of the … Continue reading