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The Midland Metro
The Midland Metro is a light-rail
tram system in the West Midlands of England. It runs between the
cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury.
The system is owned and promoted by the public transport body Centro,
but is operated by a private consortium Travel Midland Metro. Line
One, the 12½ mile (20.2 km) Birmingham to Wolverhampton route, was
opened on 31 May 1999, and runs mostly along the trackbed of the
former Great Western Railway line between the two cities, which closed
to passenger trains in 1972; although part of the line remained open
to goods trains for about 20 years afterwards.
At the southern end, the present terminus is Birmingham Snow Hill
station in Birmingham city centre. At the northern end, trams move off
the former railway formation to run along streets to a terminus at St
Georges in Wolverhampton city centre.
The Wednesbury Great Western Street tram stop occupies roughly the
same site as the former Great Western Railway station, closed in 1964.
The contract for building the first phase of the Midland Metro was
awarded to the Altram consortium in August 1995, and construction
began three months later with a targeted completion date of August
1998. But trams were not up and running until nine months after that
forecasted date.
The Metro operates a fleet of 16 Type T-69 articulated two-car trams,
which were built by Ansaldobreda, S.P.A. in Italy. Vehicles are
numbered 01-16 and have a top speed of 43.5 mph (70 km/h). Each tram
has 56 seats and can carry 208 passengers, and also has wheelchair
access. T-69s have three entrances on each side. They entered service
in 1999. All the vehicles have an integral master controller with a
bar at the top that drivers must hold straight to mobilise the
vehicle: if drivers cease to do so whilst the tram is in motion, this
acts as a dead man's handle and the power is cut and the track brakes
apply.
Throughout most of the day services run at eight-minute intervals,
although less frequently at weekends.
The current fleet of trams are to be repainted in the silver and
purple colours of Network West Midlands. The first tram to receive the
updated colours is Tram.
List of Trams by name and number
* 01 Sir Frank Whittle
* 02
* 03 Ray Lewis
* 04
* 05 Sister Dora
* 06 Alan Garner
* 07
* 08 Joseph Chamberlain
* 09 Jeff Astle
* 10 John Stanley Webb
* 11 Theresa Stewart
* 12
* 13 Anthony Nolan
* 14 Jim Eames
* 15 Agenoria
* 16 Gerwyn John
According to British Trams Online the T-69s are to be replaced with a
fleet of 40 new vehicles from an as yet unknown supplier. The T-69s
have had reliability problems since introduction and with each vehicle
being different to all others maintenance is very difficult.Midland
Metro carries about five million passengers annually.
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