West Midlands Metro suspension: what’s wrong with the trams and when will services resume?

Frustration and concern amongst the city’s political leaders and the public is beginning to build after all tram services in the West Midlands were suspended for a third time in nine months.

All Metro services in the region have been halted since Sunday (March 20) after cracks appeared on some of the older trams.

This is third time a suspension has occurred due to cracks (previously they were on the tram lines), and there is now some concern about the services with the Commonwealth Games just around the corner.

Yesterday (March 22) Birmingham City Council Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment Cllr Wassem Zaffar said people in the region are “fed up with excuses” and urged West Midlands Mayor Andy Street to provide reassurances that the trams will be a reliable source of transport by the time the Games come around in July.

In a letter to Mr Street, he said: “Once again you have broken your promises and the trams have ground to a halt. The people of our region are fed up with excuses and demand a working metro service.”

Mr Street has apologised for the problems that commuters are encountering and admitted: “We’ve let the people down.”

But why exactly does the Metro service keep getting suspended?

What’s wrong with West Midlands trams?

The network, which operates between Wolverhampton and Birmingham, was initially suspended in June after minor cracks were found on the lines in the city centre during an inspection.

The entire fleet was withdrawn, but temporary repairs were carried out at the time, allowing the services to partially resume.

But cracks were discovered in some trams again on November 13, with permanent repairs required.

Since the summer, individual trams were taken out of service on a rota basis, and the full service only resumed in February.

But after discovering cracks on some of the older trams, Transport for West Midlands have decided to suspend all services again as a precautionary measure as of 20 March.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said the cracks found on some of the older trams were different to the ones found previously.

He said: “On Saturday, we were told of a new safety concern coming from the manufacturers CAF.

“It was different to what we had before Christmas. It’s about cracking in the bodies, particularly around the doors.”

Why is this happening?

The trams are made by Spanish manufacturer CAF.

As reported by the BBC, the 21 trams, called Urbos 3s, were introduced in the city 2014.

A report from the Sydney Herald last year also stated that the city’s rail service, which also uses trams designed by CAF, was to be decommissioned due to “design flaws” found in wheel arches.

Mr Street said he has spoken to the CEO of the manufacturer CAF about the need for reliable services.

He said: “I’m ultimately responsible, but I am holding those who are responsible for this to account.

“This morning, I’ve spoken directly to the CEO of the manufacturer to impress upon for the need for reliable service, and to get this repair done once and for all to be sure we’ve got a safe that everyone can rely on.”

West Midlands Metro told the broadcaster that it was aware of the issues and is in contact with colleagues in Sydney.

When will the service resume?

Mr Street said he cannot say exactly when the service will return due.

In a video posted on his Twitter account, he said: “Until we know the extent of the problem, and indeed what is going to need to be done to deal with this repair, we cannot say exactly when the service will come back.

“We’re also looking at when we can bring back newer trams that have been delivered in advance of the extensions, to bring them into service as quickly as possible.”

Although Mr Street told the BBC he expects the Metro services could resume within ‘weeks’.

He said: “It’s weeks if the repairs are as I expect”.

He added: “My full expectation at the moment is that we will be resuming the service, running the extensions and having a full service for the Commonwealth Games.

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