A tram travelled along Broad Street for the first time on Wednesday (20 April) night as testing of the second phase of the Birmingham Westside Metro extension got underway.
The 3G tram made its way from the current Library terminus to the end of the new line at Edgbaston Village, marking the start of testing on the newly laid track.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Further trials will now see trams running across the new route over the coming weeks in preparation for the launch of passenger services in June.


When the route opens in June, three new tram stops will connect passengers to the area’s ‘Golden Mile’.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Meanwhile, all metro services in the region remain suspended after cracks appeared on some of the older trams in March.
The services are expected to resume by the end of May, but it may initially only be the service between Bull street and Wolverhampton.
Transport for West Midlands say it is likely the metro services will return in phases.
Advertisement
Advertisement


What’s been said about the new Broad Street extension route?
Cristian Bostan, Head of Integration at MMA, said he is ‘delighted’ that the team has reached this ‘essential phase’ of the project.
Advertisement
Advertisement
He said: “Testing and commissioning is an important phase which involves running out of service trams at low speeds along the newly installed track, allowing engineers to complete a series of tests in a working environment.”
A message from the editor:
Advertisement
Advertisement
Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.