Sometimes you just need to admit defeat and stop making predictions! After last week predicting that the end for the Midland Metro T69 was fast approaching the past seven days has seen a(nother) major resurgence for the remaining class members with some days seeing seven of the LRVs in use. This has obviously meant that the Urbos 3s have taken a bit of back of seat during the week although it is thought that several more of these CAF built vehicles are almost ready to carry their first passengers.<\/p>\n
There are 10 of the original 16 T69 vehicles remaining at Wednesbury Depot with one of these \u2013 03<\/strong> \u2013 being long-term withdrawn and this is very unlikely to ever carry passengers on the system again. Of the other nine 11<\/strong> \u2013 which of course carries the Blue and White Birmingham Corporation inspired livery \u2013 has remained out of use and has been in the workshops although it is not known whether this is to return it to service or to prepare it for full withdrawal. A surprise this week has been the return to use of 08<\/strong> which had last carried passengers on 4th November but this has been offset by the fact that 09<\/strong> has remained confined to the depot and hasn\u2019t been used since 1st December. (A full round-up of the current status of these trams is found at the end of this article)<\/p>\n On the Urbos 3 front seven of these vehicles are available for service on a regular basis (18<\/strong>–20<\/strong>, 22<\/strong>–26<\/strong>) subject to the usual maintenance caveats and it is expected that the next three numerical trams will soon be released for traffic. This will give 10 Urbos 3s to run the service which would allow a full service and could hasten the end of the T69s (although we aren\u2019t predicting anything!).<\/p>\n T69 current status<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 01 \u2013 stored at Long Marston<\/p>\n 02 \u2013 stored at Long Marston<\/p>\n 03 \u2013 withdrawn, remains stored at Wednesbury Depot<\/p>\n 04 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 05 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 06 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 07 \u2013 stored at Long Marston<\/p>\n 08 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 09 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 10 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 11 \u2013 under attention in the workshop<\/p>\n 12 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 13 \u2013 stored at Long Marston<\/p>\n 14 \u2013 stored at Long Marston<\/p>\n 15 \u2013 stored at Long Marston<\/p>\n 16 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n Urbos 3 current status<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 17 \u2013 has run a few test runs but has yet to enter service<\/p>\n 18 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 19 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 20 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 21 \u2013 out of service but has been used in passenger service<\/p>\n 22 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 23 \u2013 out of service but has been used in passenger service<\/p>\n 24 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 25 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 26 \u2013 available for service<\/p>\n 27 \u2013 waiting to enter service<\/p>\n 28 \u2013 waiting to enter service<\/p>\n 29 \u2013 waiting to enter service<\/p>\n 30 \u2013 undergoing testing<\/p>\n 31 \u2013 undergoing testing<\/p>\n 32 \u2013 has run on test once<\/p>\n * We will be paying another visit to Midland Metro in our Photo Galleries before Christmas, this time featuring images from November and December. All being well that should be uploaded next weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes you just need to admit defeat and stop making predictions! After last week predicting that the end for the Midland Metro T69 was fast approaching the past seven days has seen a(nother) major resurgence for the remaining class members … Continue reading