Some West Midlands tram services resume after fault

Some tram services are to resume in the West Midlands following the discovery of cracks on one vehicle.

Inspections of the fleet have been completed and a number of trams can safely return to service, Midlands Metro Ltd said.

The remainder require repairs, with work already underway, the company added.

A 10-minute service from Wolverhampton St Georges to Bull Street, Birmingham, will run from Tuesday.

Midlands Metro said this would provide maximum service with the trams available and allow sufficient capacity to enable social distancing.

It added that the fleet was already subject to a "rigorous planned and preventative maintenance regime that ensures the safety and reliability of the service", but would undergo additional daily inspections as a precautionary measure.

On Friday, the operator removed all of its 21 trams for inspection..

Its managing director, Steve McAleavy, said manufacturer CAF found minor cracks on the chassis of one of the trams during maintenance checks.

City Conservatives had called for a delay introducing charges within Birmingham's Clean Air Zone, which started on Monday, until tram services resumed.

Midlands Metro said it would increase capacity and frequency of services as more trams were confirmed as safe to operate, and would keep customers updated.

Eight million journeys were made on the network in 2019-20, according to figures from the Department for Transport.

During peak times, the tram service normally operates every 6-8 minutes between Birmingham Library and Wolverhampton St Georges, travelling through Handsworth, West Bromwich and Wednesbury.

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