Midland Metro
Locale	West Midlands, England
Transit type	Light Rail
Began operation	1999
System length	20. The West Midlands is a Metropolitan county in western central England with a population of 2591300 England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland For specific light rail systems many of which use the words "light rail" as part of their name see List of light-rail transit systems. 2 kilometres (13 mi)
Number of lines	1
Number of stations	23
Daily ridership	14,000
Track gauge	standard gauge
Operator(s)	Travel Midland Metro

The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram system in the West Midlands of England. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the two parallel rails that make up a railway track. The standard gauge (also named the Stephenson gauge after George Stephenson, or Normal gauge) is a widely-used Rail gauge. Travel Midland Metro is the name of the company that operates the Midland Metro tram system between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in the UK. Jewellery Quarter station is a railway station and Tram stop, situated in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, England. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE sometimes known as Centro, is a local government organisation ( Passenger Transport Executive) responsible For specific light rail systems many of which use the words "light rail" as part of their name see List of light-rail transit systems. A tram, tramcar, trolley, trolley car, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a Train The West Midlands is a Metropolitan county in western central England with a population of 2591300 England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It runs between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um West Bromwich ( is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England Wednesbury is a Market town in England 's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the

The system is owned and promoted by the public transport body Centro, but is operated by a private consortium Travel Midland Metro. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE sometimes known as Centro, is a local government organisation ( Passenger Transport Executive) responsible Travel Midland Metro is the name of the company that operates the Midland Metro tram system between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in the UK.

Midland Metro carries about five million passengers annually. ^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Routes 2.1 Expansion plans 2.1.1 Line One Extension 2.1.2 Line 2 2.2 Other planned extensions 2.2.1 Birmingham City Centre to Great Barr 2.2.2 Birmingham City Centre to Quinton 2.2.3 Birmingham city centre to Birmingham International Airport 2.2.4 Wolverhampton, Wednesfield, Willenhall, Walsall and Wednesbury 2.3 Current situation 3 Vehicles and services 3.1 List of Trams by name and number 4 Accidents and incidents 5 Publications 6 British Transport Police 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

History

The Act of Parliament for line 1, a 20-km route from Birmingham Snow Hill station to Wolverhampton city centre via West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Bilston received the Royal Assent in November 1989 following promotion work by West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive. The granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarch completes the legislative process of Lawmaking by formally assenting to an The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE sometimes known as Centro, is a local government organisation ( Passenger Transport Executive) responsible In April 1990, an application for funding under Section 56 was made, and £1. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) 5 million was granted to the project. It was announced in March 1992 that a further £3 million was to be granted by central government, increasing the project funding total to £4. 5 million. In the same month, the proposals for routes on line 2 received Royal Assent. Also in March 1992 it was reported that MVA had been commissioned to prepare a Section 56 submission for line 3. In September 1991, proposals were published to connect line 1 to the Bull Ring Shopping Centre and to line 2. Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. The Bull Ring is a commercial area of Birmingham, England. It has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages, when its market was first Consultants for the Midland Metro project have included WS Atkins, Kennedy Henderson, and Maunsells and Transport Planning Associates. Atkins is a professional services firm providing Engineering, Design, planning project management and consulting services based in Epsom, United ^[2]

Routes

Midland Metro Line One

Legend Wolverhampton, St. George's for Wolverhampton The Royal Priestfield The Crescent for Bilston Bilston Central for Bilston Bus Station Loxdale Bradley Lane Walsall Canal Wednesbury Parkway for Wednesbury Wednesbury, Great Western Street Proposed Line Two Joins Line One Tame Valley Canal Black Lake Tunnel 412 yards Black Lake Ridgacre Canal Dudley Street, Guns Village for West Bromwich Dartmouth Street Lodge Road, West Bromwich Town Hall West Bromwich Central for West Bromwich Bus Station Trinity Way Kenrick Park for Sandwell M5 motorway The Hawthorns for The Hawthorns Handsworth Booth Street Winson Green, Outer Circle for Winson Green Soho, Benson Road for Soho, Birmingham Jewellery Quarter for Birmingham Jewellery Quarter Hockley Tunnel 2 160 yards Hockley Tunnel 1 136 yards St. Paul's for St Paul's Square, Birmingham Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Birmingham Snow Hill for Birmingham

Line 1, the 12½ mile (20. The Royal tram stop is a Tram stop in Wolverhampton, England. Priestfield tram stop is a Tram stop in Priestfield near Wolverhampton, England. The Crescent tram stop is a Tram stop in Bilston near Wolverhampton, England. Bilston is a town in England 's West Midlands region ( Wolverhampton) Bilston Central tram stop is a Tram stop in Bilston near Wolverhampton, England. Loxdale tram stop is a Tram stop in the Bradley area of Wolverhampton in the Black Country, England. Bradley Lane tram stop is a Tram stop in Bradley near Wolverhampton in the Black Country, England. The Walsall Canal is a narrow (7 foot canal seven miles long forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, Wednesbury Parkway tram stop is a Tram stop in Wednesbury in the Black Country, England. Wednesbury is a Market town in England 's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the Wednesbury Great Western Street tram stop is a Tram stop in Wednesbury in the Black Country, England. The Tame Valley Canal is a relatively late ( 1844) Canal in the West Midlands of England. Black Lake Tunnel is a 412 yard Railway Tunnel on the West Bromwich and Wednesbury border in England. Black Lake tram stop is a Tram stop in Black Lake in the West Midlands, England. Dudley Street Guns Village tram stop is a Tram stop in West Bromwich in the West Midlands, England. West Bromwich ( is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England Dartmouth Street tram stop is a Tram stop slightly outside West Bromwich in the West Midlands, England. Lodge Road West Bromwich Town Hall tram stop is a Tram stop in West Bromwich in the West Midlands, England. West Bromwich Central tram stop is a Tram stop in West Bromwich in the West Midlands, England. Trinity Way tram stop is a Tram stop just off the A4031 (Trinity Way in West Bromwich in the West Midlands, England. Kenrick Park tram stop is a Tram stop in Sandwell, England. It was opened on 31 May 1999 and is situated on Midland Metro Line History of the Borough The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the County boroughs of Warley (associated with Worcestershire This article is about the M5 motorway in England See M5 for other roads numbered "M5" The Hawthorns station is a Railway station and Tram stop, opened in 1995 in Sandwell (very near the border with Birmingham) Handsworth Booth Street tram stop is a Tram stop in Handsworth, Birmingham England. Winson Green Outer Circle tram stop is a Tram stop in Winson Green, Birmingham England. Winson Green is a loosely-defined area in the west of the city of Birmingham, England. Soho Benson Road tram stop is a Tram stop in Soho, Birmingham England. Soho is an area in north west Birmingham, approximately 2 miles from the City Centre on the A41, which until 1911 formed part of Handsworth District Jewellery Quarter station is a railway station and Tram stop, situated in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, England. The Jewellery Quarter is an area of Birmingham City Centre, situated in the south of the Hockley area of Birmingham, England. Hockley Tunnel is a set of two Tunnels used by the Railway and Tram in Hockley, Birmingham, England. Hockley Tunnel is a set of two Tunnels used by the Railway and Tram in Hockley, Birmingham, England. St Paul's tram stop is a Tram stop serving nearby St Paul's Square, Birmingham England. St Paul's,, is a church and a Georgian square in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, England. The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a Canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England on the site of a much larger station which was built by Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um 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. Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) The Great Western Railway ( GWR) was a British railway company and a notable example of Civil engineering, linking London with the West

At the southern end, the terminus is Birmingham Snow Hill station in Birmingham city centre. Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England on the site of a much larger station which was built by Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um 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. Trams were not up and running until nine months after that forecasted date.

Expansion plans

Although fewer people use the trams than expected, expansion to the system is planned, including in the near future an on-street extension through Birmingham city centre running close to Birmingham New Street Station, when the station is redeveloped, then to Five Ways (via Broad Street) and Edgbaston (one of the criticisms of the current system is that it does not serve directly the shopping area of Birmingham), and a branch from Wednesbury to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre and onto Brierley Hill town centre. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um Birmingham New Street is a major railway station located in the centre of the city of Birmingham, England. Five Ways is an area of Birmingham, England. It takes its name from a major road junction now a busy roundabout (with pedestrian Subways through Broad Street is a major Thoroughfare in Birmingham City Centre, United Kingdom. Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own District committee. The Merry Hill Shopping Centre is a Shopping centre in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, England. Brierley Hill is a Town and electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. An order authorising the city centre extension was made in July 2005. ^[3]

Line One Extension

Line One Extension

Legend St Chads Bull Street Corporation Street Birmingham New Street Victoria Square Centenary Square. Corporation Street is a proposed stop for the planned extension of Line one of the Midland Metro onto Corporation Street in Birmingham City Centre, Birmingham New Street is a major railway station located in the centre of the city of Birmingham, England. Victoria Square is a proposed stop for the planned extension of Line one of the Midland Metro into Birmingham City Centre in the United Kingdom. Centenary Square is a proposed stop for the planned extension of Line one of the Midland Metro into Birmingham City Centre in the United Kingdom. Alight for National Indoor Arena Birmingham Canal Main Line Brindleyplace. The National Indoor Arena or The NIA is a large Indoor arena and is owned by the NEC Group. Alight for National Sea Life Centre Five Ways Edgbaston

There had been talk of running the tram line through Birmingham city centre in tunnels, rather than through the streets. The National Sea Life Centre ( is an Aquarium with over 60 displays of freshwater and marine life in Brindleyplace, Birmingham, England. Edgbaston is a proposed stop for the planned extension of Line one of the Midland Metro into Birmingham City Centre in the United Kingdom. However the council axed this option in October 2005. ^[4]

The tram line will run along the street and at points such as Suffolk Queensway will go over the road on a bridge. The developers of V Building, a development alongside Suffolk Queensway, paid £5 million towards the proposed construction of the tram line along Broad Street. The V Building (formerly known as Arena Central Tower and briefly as Arena Square Tower) is a 51 storey Residential Skyscraper approved for construction

Once completed it is expected the trams will operate a turn-up-and-go service, seven days a week through the centre of Birmingham, with an estimated journey time of 13 minutes between Snow Hill Station and Edgbaston Shopping Centre.

As part of the redevelopment adjacent to Snow Hill Station, a viaduct is being constructed that will carry the Metro from the current alignment into the streets of Birmingham. Once line is completed trams will no longer call at Snow Hill, But will stop at St Chads and the Bull Street tram stops.

Line 2

Midland Metro Line Two

Legend Proposed Line Two Joins Line One Tame Valley Canal Golds Hill Walsall Canal Great Bridge Horseley Road Dudley Port. The Tame Valley Canal is a relatively late ( 1844) Canal in the West Midlands of England. The Walsall Canal is a narrow (7 foot canal seven miles long forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, Horseley Road is a proposed stop on the planned Line two of the Midland Metro expansion Change here for trains to the south & north Birmingham New Main Line Canal (under aqueduct) Sedgley Road Birmingham Old Main Line Canal Birmingham New Road Tipton Road Dudley Town Centre for Dudley Bus station Flood Street New Road Cinderbank Parkhead Viaduct Pedmore Road Canal Street Waterfront Merry Hill Brierley Hill

Preliminary work on the section of the Midland Metro between Wednesbury and Brierley Hill (via Dudley) has begun. An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another Sedgely Road is a proposed stop on Midland Metro Line Two being planned by Network West Midlands between Wednesbury and Brierley Hill Parkhead Viaduct is a railway viaduct located in Dudley, West Midlands, England. The first phase of the work started in August 2005, with the reconstruction of the 50-year-old Tipton Road overbridge in Dudley. Dudley ( is a large town in the West Midlands, England, with a population of 194919. It was completed the following year.

Where it is proposed to leave line 1 in Wednesbury, line 2 will follow the disused South Staffordshire Line, which closed in 1993, through Sandwell to Dudley. The South Staffordshire Line was a railway line that connected Lichfield in Staffordshire, England with Dudley, formerly in Worcestershire This part of the route has the potential to run alongside heavy rail, already common practice in other countries as well as along part of line 1. The line heading eastwards from Birmingham, using a new trackbed, will probably be completed later.

After sharing the railway corridor to Dudley Town Centre, the Metro will run on-street before travelling alongside the Dudley Southern Bypass and then again running along the existing railway corridor, passing through industrial and residential areas until it turns into the Waterfront/Merry Hill area to Brierley Hill.

The first trams are scheduled to begin running in 2011. At March 2007 the extension to line 2 has been officially put on hold due to financial difficulties, mainly due to compensation issues with the existing line.

According to Centro/Network West Midlands the following information is the level of service for line 2.

• Journey Times
  • Dudley to Wednesbury - 12 min 30 sec
  • Brierley Hill to Dudley - 11 min
  • Brierley Hill to West Bromwich - 31 min
  • Dudley to Wolverhampton - 27 min 30 sec
  • Dudley to Bull Street - 35 min

• Service Frequency
  • Five trams per hour Brierley Hill to Wolverhampton each way
  • Five trams per hour Brierley Hill to Edgbaston each way

Other planned extensions

Midland Metro/Network West Midlands has given more information on the planed extensions which are as follows.

Birmingham City Centre to Great Barr

A route is planned from the City Centre through Lancaster Circus and along the A34 corridor to a terminus near the M6 motorway junction 7. The A34 is a major road in England. It runs from the A6042 in Salford to Winchester in Hampshire. This article concerns the M6 motorway in England There are also M6 motorways in Russia (see Caspian Highway) Hungary (see M6 motorway

A Park and Ride site is being considered for this route to attract motorists out of their cars and help to alleviate congestion on this very busy arterial route to and from the city. Park and ride (or incentive parking) facilities are Public transport stations that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into There will be 17 stops along the 10-km route. This route will provide a frequent link from Birmingham City Centre to Perry Barr One Stop, the Birmingham City University, Scott Arms and the Alexander Stadium. Birmingham City University (formerly Birmingham Polytechnic and the University of Central England in Birmingham) is a University in the city The Alexander Stadium is the main athletics stadium located within Perry Park in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, at. A large part of this route lies within the South Black Country and West Birmingham regeneration zone. Construction of this route is expected to help regenerate the local economy and boost employment opportunities.

• Journey Times
  • Great Barr to Bull Street - 23 min
  • Perry Barr One Stop to Broad Street - 18 min
  • Six Ways, Aston to New Street Station - 11 min

• Service Pattern
  • Peak (07. Great Barr is a large and loosely-defined area which straddles the boundaries of Birmingham, West Bromwich ( Sandwell; including the Great Barr with Perry Barr is an area in north Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own District committee. Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. 00-19. 00): every four to six minutes
  • Off peak: every 10 minutes

New high capacity vehicles will be able to carry over 200 passengers with zero emissions, reducing pollution and improving air quality in town centres.

Birmingham City Centre to Quinton

This route is planned from the Birmingham City Centre Extension terminus at Five Ways along the Hagley Road to Quinton. Birmingham City Centre is the business hub of the city of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Five Ways is an area of Birmingham, England. It takes its name from a major road junction now a busy roundabout (with pedestrian Subways through The A456 is a main road in England running between Birmingham and Woofferton, Shropshire, south of Ludlow. Quinton is a suburb on the western edge of Birmingham, England.

Stops along the route will provide interchange with bus services and access to nearby residential, schools, leisure and shopping areas.

The route is still considering options with a possible terminus in the area of M5 junction 3 with a Park and Ride site; this would help to alleviate congestion on the Hagley Road. This article is about the M5 motorway in England See M5 for other roads numbered "M5" There will be nine stops along the 7. 5-km route. Part of the route lies within the South Black Country and West Birmingham Regeneration Zone. Construction of this route is expected to help regenerate the local economy and boost employment opportunities.

• Journey Times
  • Five Ways to park and ride site - 19 min
  • Wolverhampton Road to International Convention Centre - 16 min
  • Park and Ride to Corporation Street - 28 min

Birmingham city centre to Birmingham International Airport

The planned route from Birmingham International Airport/ NEC will take Metro along the A45 corridor serving The Wheatsheaf, Yardley, Small Heath and Digbeth on its way into the city centre. Birmingham International Airport may refer to Birmingham International Airport (United Kingdom, serving Birmingham England United Kingdom The National Exhibition Centre ( NEC) is an Exhibition centre in Solihull, near Birmingham, England. Yardley is an area in east Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own District committee. Small Heath is an inner-city area within the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. Digbeth is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also the name of the main road through the area Working in partnership with the airport expansion team, Metro will form part of its key access arrangements for staff and customers.

Consideration is still being given to locations for Park and Ride sites along this key transport corridor. There will be 18 stops along the 14-km route. A large part of this route lies within the East Birmingham and North Solihull Regeneration Zone. Construction of this route is expected to help regenerate the local economy and boost employment opportunities.

• Journey Times
  • Airport to Bull Street - 29 min
  • Swan to Wheatsheaf - 5 min
  • Digbeth to Airport - 23 min

Wolverhampton, Wednesfield, Willenhall, Walsall and Wednesbury

The Metro 5Ws route will connect Wolverhampton, Wednesfield, Willenhall, Walsall and Wednesbury, serving many residential, leisure, retail, business and regeneration areas along its route, as well as providing direct access to New Cross and Manor Hospitals.

The route is proposed to leave line 1 in Wolverhampton and loop around the city centre in a clockwise direction connecting to the bus and rail stations. Then it will run on the highway through Heath Town until diverting into the hospital grounds to serve New Cross hospital. The route continues to Willenhall running to the north of the town centre before joining a former rail route into Reedswood and Walsall. Metro will then be on street serving the town centre, bus station, rail station, Art Gallery, Leather Museum and Manor Hospital before it again joins a former rail route to Darlaston and onto Wednesbury where it connects with the bus station before joining line 1 at the Wednesbury Great Western Street stop. Through journeys to Brierley Hill or Birmingham will be possible.

There will be 25 stops on the 20. 4-km route. To operate this route, an extra 15 trams will be required.

• Journey Times
  • Whole route - 42 min
  • Wolverhampton St. George's to New Cross - 8 min
  • New Cross to Manor Hospital - 22 min
  • Walsall to Wednesbury - 12 min

The route will serve the key regeneration areas along the way providing a sustainable and attractive form of public transport, which will open up new journey opportunities and provide access to and from many areas of employment.

• Metro is a key part of the Wolverhampton Interchange project and will link the redeveloped rail and bus stations.
• Metro will access the proposed new town square in Wednesfield.
• Working with Walsall Regenco, Metro will serve the proposed new developments in the brownfield sites in Walsall Town Centre – Tesco, Walsall College and new office accommodation.
• The route will also serve the bus and rail station in Walsall Town Centre as well as the existing attractions.
• Metro will provide access to the £140 million redevelopment of the Manor Hospital.
• Metro will then continue on to serve the Darlaston Strategic Development area. This major strategic site of 54 acres at Darlaston has the potential to create between 2,500 and 4,500 jobs over two phases. Although requiring substantial investment to bring the land back into productive use, the creation of serviced sites to accommodate new logistics and distribution hubs will provide attractive locations for major national and international companies looking to establish a regional West Midlands.
• Metro will then serve the bus station in Wednesbury before joining in to line 1 and the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill route at Wednesbury Great Western Street stop.

Current situation

Any expansion is currently on hold until a proposed review in 2008 when further funds may be released[1], this may apply only to line 2, not to the extension into Birmingham City Centre.

Vehicles and services

Metro operates a fleet of 16 Type T-69 articulated two-car trams, which were built by Ansaldobreda, S.P.A. in Italy. Ansaldobreda SPA is a company based in Pistoia and Naples, Italy and responsible for designing and manufacturing railway and mass transit vehicles Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest 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. They have three entrances on each side and entered service in 1999. They 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, it acts as a dead man's handle and the power is cut and the track brakes apply. A dead man's switch (for other names see alternative names) as its name suggests is a switch that is automatically operated in case the Human operator becomes incapacitated Track brakes are a form of Brakes unique to railborne vehicles

Throughout most of the day services run at eight-minute intervals, less frequently at weekends. Trams are to be repainted in the silver, pink and purple colours of Network West Midlands. The first tram to receive the updated colours is tram 9. ^[5], which was delivered from Crewe at the end of April. It has undergone extensive testing prior to its reintroduction to the fleet. It is also mentioned in Tramlines, an online magazine by Midland Metro. [2] The date when the refurbished tram entered service was in June, some three months later than published in the February edition of Tramlines.

List of Trams by name and number

Fleet Number	Tram Name	Livery
01	Sir Frank Whittle	Midland Metro
02		Midland Metro
03	Ray Lewis	Midland Metro
04		Midland Metro
05	Sister Dora	Midland Metro
06	Alan Garner	Midland Metro
07	Billy Wright	Network West Midlands
08	Joseph Chamberlain	Midland Metro
09	Jeff Astle	Network West Midlands
10	John Stanley Webb	Network West Midlands
11	Theresa Stewart	Midland Metro
12		Midland Metro
13	Anthony Nolan	Midland Metro
14	James Eames	Midland Metro
15	Agenoria	Midland Metro
16	Gerwyn John	Midland Metro

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. Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, FRS, Hon FRAeS (1 June 1907 &ndash 9 August 1996 was an English Royal Sister Dora (born Dorothy Wyndlow Pattison 16 January 1832, at Hauxwell, Yorkshire; died 1878 was a 19th century Church of England Billy Wright can refer to Billy Wright (footballer, Wolverhampton Wanderers and England football captain Billy Wright (footballer born 1958 Joseph Chamberlain ( 8 July 1836 &ndash 2 July 1914) was an influential British businessman politician and statesman Jeffrey (Jeff Astle ( 13 May 1942 &ndash 19 January 2002) was an English footballer. The Anthony Nolan Trust is a UK charity that focuses on Leukaemia and Bone marrow transplantation. Foster Rastrick and Company was one of the pioneering Steam locomotive manufacturing companies of England. The T-69s have had reliability problems since introduction and with each vehicle being different from all others maintenance is very difficult.

Accidents and incidents

A minor incident occurred soon after the service began: a car ignored the traffic lights and drove staight in front of a moving tram, which then pushed it into a metal structure in the middle of the Wolverhampton ring road. The Express & Star newspaper published it as headline news with the title 'Number 1' which left many readers confused at the time, but this title makes more sense now that other incidents have occurred since. The Express & Star is an evening Newspaper based in Wolverhampton, England, publishing 11 different editions covering the Black Country

On 19 December 2006, a tram travelling towards Birmingham collided with another that had stopped due to a technical fault near Soho Benson Road tram stop. Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Soho Benson Road tram stop is a Tram stop in Soho, Birmingham England. ^[6] Around 40 passengers were on board when the incident happened. 16 passengers were taken to hospital while other passengers suffered from bruises. ^[7] A Rail Accident Investigation Branch investigation concluded that the following tram was unable to stop in time to prevent the accident because "driver did not modify their driving technique when dazzled by the low lying winter sun" and "was too late in applying the tram’s hazard brake". The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is a government agency that became operational on 17 October 2005. They cited as contributory factors reduced vision caused by the sun, a problem with the sunblind fitted to the tram, and the lack of a requirement that trams causing an obstruction display hazard warning lights. ^[8]

In June 2007, vandalism caused damage to overhead power lines and brought the system to a halt. ^[9].

Publications

Midland Metro has had a number of in-house publications. The current publication is entitled Tram Lines and the first issue was in February 2007. The two-sided information sheet provides information on maintenance, on-going projects and competitions[3]. The previous publication was entitled Track Record and featured news articles and progress reports on the proposed extensions.

British Transport Police

The police force responsible for policing the Metro is the British Transport Police. The British Transport Police ( BTP) (Heddlu Trafnidiaeth Prydeinig is a Special police force empowered to police those railways and light-rail systems in Officers are based in Wednesbury. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch have a statutory responsibility to investigate any accident or dangerous occurrence. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is a government agency that became operational on 17 October 2005.

See also

• Midland metro route maps
• Transport in Birmingham
• Light Rail Transit Association

References

External links

• Travel Midland Metro - Homepage
• Centro Midland Metro pages - includes details of future extensions
• Google Maps - Line One Station Locations Map - Google Maps
• Light Rail Transit Association - useful information
• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Midland Metro
• topic:transport - Critical website
• More information and pictures at thetrams.co.uk
• Collection of Google Earth locations of Midland Metro stations (Requires Google Earth software) from the Google Earth Community forum.
• TRAM Lines: The Midland Metro Newsletter

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