End of the line for old trams marks dawn of new era for Midland Metro

THE last of the old Midland Metro trams has reached the end of the line after nearly 16 years in service and more than one million miles on the clock.

The final journey of the T-69 tram was marked by the signing of a new passenger charter by transport bosses.

Transforming Tram Travel is a partnership agreement between Centro, the public transport delivery body for the West Midlands and owner of the Metro, and National Express West Midlands, which operates the system on its behalf.

The agreement aims to deliver 50 pledges of even higher standards of punctuality and passenger service by 2018.

These include fare rises capped at one per cent above the retail price index, discount tickets for apprentices and NHS staff, and making it easier to pay by using the Swift smartcard, contactless bank cards, mobile phones and even smart watches.

Cllr Roger Horton, Centro lead member for rail and Midland Metro, said: “The T-69 trams have been excellent servants but their day is now done as the Metro moves into a new era of expansion.

“Transforming Tram Travel is a key part of that new era, offering passengers a wealth of benefits that we believe will encourage even more people to use the Midland Metro.”

Peter Coates, managing director of National Express West Midlands, said: “The old T-69s have served hundreds of thousands of passengers in the Black Country and Birmingham for sixteen years but it is now time for them to make way for new, brighter and more spacious trams as we sign this groundbreaking agreement.”

“Our new Transforming Tram Travel partnership will make sure we provide an even better service to our customers.”

The T-69 trams were built in Italy by Ansaldo Breda and went into service on the Midland Metro line between Snow Hill and Wolverhampton in 1999.

The last tram, Tram 16, has clocked up more than one million miles in its years in service and will now join the rest of the mothballed fleet in storage.

The 16-strong old fleet has been gradually replaced over recent months as more of the 20 new Urbos 3 trams have arrived from Spanish manufacturer CAF.

The new, bigger trams required the Metro’s existing maintenance depot in Potters Lane, Wednesbury to be remodelled and extended in a £14m scheme.

While there are no UK tram manufacturers, the deal struck by Centro with CAF allows the manufacture of spare parts to be carried out by local firms.

Transforming Tram Travel comes as expansion of the Midland Metro network, which carries 5.2 million passengers a year between Wolverhampton and Birmingham’s Snow Hill station, gathers pace.

In Wolverhampton work to begin linking the existing Metro network to the bus station and the rail station could begin next year, subject to Government approval following a public inquiry.

In Birmingham the extension from Snow Hill to New Street station is scheduled to open at the end of 2015, while work is already underway on taking the line up to Centenary Square from New Street via Victoria Square.

The route of a further extension through the heart of the Digbeth area of central Birmingham has also been chosen.

The first section of the Eastside Metro route was agreed last year and will run between the extension currently being built at Bull Street in the city centre to the forthcoming HS2 high speed rail station at Curzon Street.