The West Midlands Metro is a passenger light rail line in the West Midlands conurbation in England, which opened in 1999. Its rolling stock consists of 21 CAF Urbos 3 trams which came into service in 2014/15, replacing the older T-69 trams which had operated the line since 1999.
| Background: | blue |
| Urbos 3/Urbos 100 | |
| Service: | 5 September 2014 – present |
| Manufacturer: | CAF |
| Factory: | Zaragoza, Spain |
| Replaced: | All remaining T69 |
| Yearconstruction: |
|
| Numberbuilt: | 42 |
| Numberservice: | 39 |
| Formation: | 5 sections with 4 articulations. |
| Fleetnumbers: |
|
| Capacity: | 210 (54 seats, 156 standing) |
| Operator: | West Midlands Metro |
| Lines: | Wolverhampton - Birmingham |
| Carlength: | 32966frac=8NaNfrac=8[1] |
| Width: | 2.65frac=8NaNfrac=8 |
| Height: | 3.4frac=8NaNfrac=8 |
| Wheeldiameter: | 590– (new–worn) |
| Maxspeed: | 70km/h |
| Weight: | 56t |
| Traction Motors: | 8 × Traktionssysteme Austria TMR 36-18-4 70-1NaN-1[2] |
| Poweroutput: | 560-1NaN-1 |
| Transmission: | 5.44 : 1 (49 / 9) gear ratio[3] |
| Electricsystem: | from overhead catenary |
| Collectionmethod: | Pantograph |
| Uicclass: | Bo′+2′+Bo′ |
A new fleet of 21 CAF Urbos 3 trams began to enter service in September 2014, they replaced the old T-69 fleet in 2015. In February 2012 Centro named CAF the preferred bidder for a contract to supply 19 to 25 Urbos 3 trams.[4] A £40 million firm order for 20 was subsequently signed, with options for five more.[5] The first of the new trams was unveiled at the Wednesbury depot in October 2013,[6] with the first four entering service on 5 September 2014.[7]
The new fleet provided an increased service of 10 trams per hour in each direction, with an increased capacity of 210 passengers per tram, compared with the 156 passengers on the former T69 trams. The Urbos 3 trams are long; longer than the former T69 stock, and have a maximum operating speed of . They are low floor throughout, and consist of five sections with four articulations. Three of the modules are mounted on bogies and the other two modules are suspended.[8]
At wide, The Urbos 3 trams are slightly wider than the wide T69s. The line was closed for two weeks during March and April 2013, in order for the platforms on each of the stops to be narrowed by to accommodate the new trams. The T69s were modified with wider steps to be compatible with the narrower platforms.
In 2016, it was announced that the Urbos 3 fleet would be fitted with rechargeable batteries to allow them to operate along various extensions of the Midland Metro network intended to be constructed without overhead lines.[9] Tram 18 was the first to be fitted with batteries in 2017,[10] with the final tram, number 26, being fitted by April 2020.[11] Tram 31 was the first to receive the new blue livery and was relaunched on 16 July 2018.[12] In May 2019, tram 19 was given a silver and blue livery with special logos to mark the 20th anniversary of the West Midlands Metro on 30 May 2019.[13] It was given the full blue livery in February 2021.[14] All trams now carry this livery.[15]
In October 2019, an order was signed for 21 new Urbos 100 trams, with the option of a further 29.[16] Eight of these were delivered in 2021, three within 2022, with the remaining 8 being delivered until November 2023.[17]
Cracks have been detected in the older Urbos 3 trams resulting in suspension of services, the most recent in March 2022. The newer Urbos 100 vehicles are not affected by these bodywork defects.
| Key: | Stored | Serving |
|---|
| Fleet number | Tram name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Stored out of service .[18] | |
| 18 | ||
| 19 | ||
| 20 | ||
| 21 | ||
| 22 | ||
| 23 | ||
| 24 | ||
| 25 | ||
| 26 | Out of use between June 2017 and June 2019 following a derailment in the depot.[19] Stored out of service .[20] | |
| 27 | ||
| 28 | Jasper Carrott[21] | Named after the Birmingham born comedian Jasper Carrott on 13 November 2019 at the new Town Hall Tram Stop.[22] |
| 29 | Stored out of service .[23] | |
| 30 | ||
| 31 | Cyrille Regis[24] | |
| 32 | ||
| 33 | ||
| 34 | ||
| 35 | Previously named Angus Adams by Elizabeth II on the 19 November 2015.[25] [26] | |
| 36 | ||
| 37 | Ozzy Osbourne | Named by Osbourne on 26 May 2016.[27] |
| 38 | ||
| 39 | Don & Roy Richardson | Named by Roy on 2 March 2023[28] |
| 40 | ||
| 41 | ||
| 42 | ||
| 43 | ||
| 44 | ||
| 45 | Advert for City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra | |
| 46 | ||
| 47 | ||
| 48 | ||
| 49 | ||
| 50 | ||
| 51 | ||
| 52 | ||
| 53 | ||
| 54 | ||
| 55 | ||
| 56 | Amman Ahmed | Named on 30 September 2024 after a volunteer who won a contest as part of the 50for50WM campaign celebrating 50 years of the West Midlands County[29] |
| 57 | ||
| 58 | Advert for Birmingham City University | |
| Background: |
|
| T-69 | |
| Service: | 30 May 1999 – 14 August 2015 |
| Manufacturer: | AnsaldoBreda |
| Factory: | Naples, Italy |
| Yearconstruction: | 1996–1999 |
| Refurbishment: | 2013 |
| Yearscrapped: | 2018 |
| Numberbuilt: | 16 |
| Numberscrapped: | 13 |
| Formation: | 2 sections per tram, articulated intersection |
| Fleetnumbers: | 01–16 |
| Capacity: | 156 (56 seats, 100 standing) |
| Operator: | National Express Midland Metro |
| Lines: | Wolverhampton - Birmingham Snow Hill |
| Carbody: | Aluminium |
| Carlength: | 24.36frac=8NaNfrac=8 |
| Width: | 2.48frac=8NaNfrac=8[30] |
| Height: | 3.7frac=8NaNfrac=8 |
| Wheeldiameter: | 680– (new–worn) |
| Maxspeed: | 43.5mph |
| Weight: | per tram |
| Traction Motors: | 2 × 2100NaN0 separately-excited DC motor[31] |
| Poweroutput: | 4200NaN0 |
| Electricsystem: | 750 V DC from overhead catenary |
| Collectionmethod: | Brecknell Willis high reach pantograph |
| Uicclass: | B′+2′+B′ |
Sixteen T-69 trams were the original fleet, introduced into service in 1999, These were withdrawn from service gradually during 2014/15 as the new Urbos 3 fleet was introduced. The last, no. 16, was withdrawn from service in August 2015.[32]
The T69s were used only on the Midland Metro, and were built by the Italian company AnsaldoBreda. Their closest "brothers" were the SL95 running in Oslo, Norway, as well as the mechanically similar Manchester Metrolink T-68A trams. At long, the T-69s were the shortest modern tramcars in Britain. The vehicles were articulated, resting on three bogies, and had low floors over about 60% of the length. The central section of the trams was low floor, with inwards facing seating at the sides, while at each end was a raised seating area, accessible by steps. Each tram had 56 seats, with space for another 100 standing. They were accessible from three wide entrances on each side, with twin plug doors.
When delivered, all trams carried a livery of a purple body, red fronts, grey skirt and yellow doors, but trams 05, 07, 09, and 10 were refurbished and repainted in Network West Midlands' silver and magenta livery, tram 11 was also repainted, this unit was repainted into the original Birmingham Corporation Tramways. From their entry into service, each tram had a roller-blind style destination board; in 2013, these were replaced with new LED Destination boards on all trams.[33]
Most trams were named after local celebrities or people of note. After withdrawal 1-15 were placed in storage at Long Marston. In February 2016 proposals were unveiled to convert the Isle of Wight Island Line into a tram line. It was reported that the remaining T-69s could be purchased second hand and re-used for this scheme.[34] However, this proposal never came to fruition, and in 2018 tram 11 was donated for preservation. The remaining 12 were sold for scrap. In July 2022 Transport for West Midlands scrapped "preserved" tram 11. Trams 07 and 10 remain in storage at Long Marston. In June 2022 tram 10 was repainted into an advert for British Transport Police for use during a demonstration at the annual Rail Live event.[35]
Tram 16 was moved from Long Marston to the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre in Dudley in November 2023, where it was refurbished and re-liveried as a battery-powered test tram.[36] [37]
| Key: | Stored | Scrapped |
|---|
| Fleet Number | Tram Name | Livery | Notes[38] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Original (blue, red, grey, yellow) | Scrapped | |
| 02 | Original | Scrapped | |
| 03 | Ray Lewis[39] | Original | Scrapped |
| 04 | Sir Frank Whittle[40] | Original | Scrapped |
| 05 | Sister Dora | Silver and Magenta | Scrapped |
| 06 | Alan Garner | Original | Scrapped; was involved in 2006 collision |
| 07 | Billy Wright[41] | Silver and Magenta | Stored at Long Marston |
| 08 | Joseph Chamberlain | Original | Scrapped |
| 09 | Jeff Astle | Silver and Magenta | Scrapped |
| 10 | John Stanley Webb | British Transport Police advert | Stored at Long Marston[42] |
| 11 | Theresa Stewart | Birmingham Corporation | Was expected to be preserved by Birmingham City Council[43] Scrapped July 2022[44] |
| 12 | Original | Scrapped | |
| 13 | Anthony Nolan | Original | Scrapped |
| 14 | Jim Eames | Original | Scrapped |
| 15 | Agenoria | Original | Scrapped |
| 16 | Gerwyn John[45] | Original | Refurbished at the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre in Dudley, as a test tram. |
National Express Midland Metro, the former operator of the tramway until 2018, acquired a number of vehicles for maintaining the line. These included a Unimog,[46] and road-rail lifting platform.[47] These vehicles have been transferred to the new operator, Transport for West Midlands, and are still in use.