West Midlands Metro - News & Discussion

[Liam L]

To be fair Millennium Point is supposed to be a temporary terminus, so it'll only be in use for about 50 years or so or whenever they open the HS2 site.

Midland metro alliance is due to get access to HS2 site to start connecting digbeth to existing network around September time

 

[spp]

Stuck on another faulty tram just outside Wolverhampton. The irony

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Apr 2026 ==

On way home, no trams from Wolverhampton to Priestfield due to a fault.

Haha it’s ok though a few people who go on once in a blue moon think it’s ready for an expanded service

 

[david1212]

Had the poor state of the trams confirmed to me this afternoon around 5pm. Boarded at Pipers Row sat right behind the drivers cab, driver seemed to be having issues as didn’t pull off as quickly as normal.

.......

The inspector told me it wasn’t but this was one of the old trams, he told me it took them 20mins to get it going when they put it into service! He said there’d been issues with another earlier too towards Birmingham.

He basically said they are struggling to run the current service without using old unreliable trams. Begs the question how will they ever run the additional Dudley line, or maybe thats the real reason for the delayed opening.

The older trams seem to spend most of their time on depot these days, only used to make up the numbers. The newer trams are mostly used to run the service currently. I was on Tram 19 earlier today and it reminded me that the older ones are definitely starting to age.

Looking at Wikipedia ( not always accurate I appreciate ) for the West Midland Metro it shows a fleet of 42 Urbos 3, 21 built 2012 - 2015 numbered 17 to 37 and 21 built 2021 - 2023 numbered 38 to 58 while the AnsaldoBreda T-69 built 1996 - 1999 were all withdrawn by 2015.

Hence I presume the old trams referred to the first batch of Urbos 3 so not really that old.
While the extensions are delayed having a fleet at least near to double the size of that needed to run the service seems generous. How many additional trams will be needed if eventually the route does go right to Brierley Hill?

Is any work being done on the first batch of Urbos 3 or while speculation more likely replacements will have to be funded?

 

[Liam L]

Looking at Wikipedia ( not always accurate I appreciate ) for the West Midland Metro it shows a fleet of 42 Urbos 3, 21 built 2012 - 2015 numbered 17 to 37 and 21 built 2021 - 2023 numbered 38 to 58 while the AnsaldoBreda T-69 built 1996 - 1999 were all withdrawn by 2015.

Hence I presume the old trams referred to the first batch of Urbos 3 so not really that old.
While the extensions are delayed having a fleet at least near to double the size of that needed to run the service seems generous. How many additional trams will be needed if eventually the route does go right to Brierley Hill?

Is any work being done on the first batch of Urbos 3 or while speculation more likely replacements will have to be funded?

I think most people (including staff) refer trams 17 to 37 as the older trams. The old trams have had all the repairs done to them after the cracking incidents. Some went off for storage during the depot expansions.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Apr 2026 ==

Stuck on another faulty tram just outside Wolverhampton. The irony

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Apr 2026 ==

On way home, no trams from Wolverhampton to Priestfield due to a fault.

Haha it’s ok though a few people who go on once in a blue moon think it’s ready for an expanded service

Let me guess, a fault on a older tram?

 

[spp]

Let me guess, a fault on an older tram?

They didn’t say but there was a tram stuck nearly on the island of the ring road so guessing so.

Another day another tram fault. Just 20 mins ago stuck just outside Bilston Central while another tram was right in front but not moving.

Driver on our tram announced the tram in front was having issues. I then heard her say to the inspector ‘wonder if they’re having same problem we had earlier’.

Luckily this time was only a 5 or so minute delay.

 

[Liam L]

They didn’t say but there was a tram stuck nearly on the island of the ring road so guessing so.

Another day another tram fault. Just 20 mins ago stuck just outside Bilston Central while another tram was right in front but not moving.

Driver on our tram announced the tram in front was having issues. I then heard her say to the inspector ‘wonder if they’re having same problem we had earlier’.

Luckily this time was only a 5 or so minute delay.

Just been through Birmingham City centre and saw all the trams are terminating at Priestfield again

 

[danshrimp]

Good to see that plans are afoot to split the network into lines. The survey includes various options for line descriptors based on numbers, letters or words, but all relatively simple.

And there's no indication of what this will mean for the Millennium Point stub. Presumably it will be served by (at least) one of the Birmingham lines, but in this case the line description just saying "Birmingham" seems unhelpful. The new network will be out of date before it even starts. (Perhaps I'm overthinking it and this is just about the numbering/naming system and they'll add more detail later.)

West Midlands Metro (@WMmetro) on X

Help us choose the name of our new Metro routes! West Midlands Metro is growing, transforming from a single line into a wider network, and we’d love your help to make it even easier to understand. As we prepare to offer more journey options across the region, we’re exploring

x.com

Help us choose the name of our new Metro routes!

West Midlands Metro is growing, transforming from a single line into a wider network, and we’d love your help to make it even easier to understand. As we prepare to offer more journey options across the region, we’re exploring new route‑identifier designs to help customers quickly spot the right tram.

Take the survey for a chance to win £50 Amazon voucher!
Survey closes 5pm, Tuesday 5 May
Have your say today > bit.ly/4tdhf29

#WestMidlandsMetro #MetroRoutes

 

[spp]

Good to see that plans are afoot to split the network into lines. The survey includes various options for line descriptors based on numbers, letters or words, but all relatively simple.

And there's no indication of what this will mean for the Millennium Point stub. Presumably it will be served by (at least) one of the Birmingham lines, but in this case the line description just saying "Birmingham" seems unhelpful. The new network will be out of date before it even starts. (Perhaps I'm overthinking it and this is just about the numbering/naming system and they'll add more detail later.)

West Midlands Metro (@WMmetro) on X

Help us choose the name of our new Metro routes! West Midlands Metro is growing, transforming from a single line into a wider network, and we’d love your help to make it even easier to understand. As we prepare to offer more journey options across the region, we’re exploring

x.com

View attachment 202805

Saw this myself and thought the same re Millenium point. Hopefully it’s just for the survey purposes.

I suggested colours ie red route, green route etc as wasn’t an option but it’s not hugely different to the numbers/letters principle.

They’ve confirmed in the local rag this week (sure to be online expressandstar.com but I saw it on the front of a paper) that the Dudley route starts test runs early June.

 

[Liam L]

Id imagine one of the routes will terminate at Millennium point vice going all the way up to edgbaston.

I still don't why currently all trams have to go up to edgbaston. Surely they can manage with a tram every 12 minutes? If not there plenty of bus services going the same way as the metro!

 

[birchesgreen]

Hopefully Trammy McTramface won't end up being a line name.

 

[Cross City]

Good to see that plans are afoot to split the network into lines. The survey includes various options for line descriptors based on numbers, letters or words, but all relatively simple.

And there's no indication of what this will mean for the Millennium Point stub. Presumably it will be served by (at least) one of the Birmingham lines, but in this case the line description just saying "Birmingham" seems unhelpful. The new network will be out of date before it even starts. (Perhaps I'm overthinking it and this is just about the numbering/naming system and they'll add more detail later.)

West Midlands Metro (@WMmetro) on X

Help us choose the name of our new Metro routes! West Midlands Metro is growing, transforming from a single line into a wider network, and we’d love your help to make it even easier to understand. As we prepare to offer more journey options across the region, we’re exploring

x.com

View attachment 202805

Unpopular perhaps but I hope they don't name the lines. T1, T2, T3 is perfectly fine.

They should rename all the WMR suburban routes S1-9 while they're at it too.

They'd both go will with the X express bus numbering system and the coherent branding they've already got.

 

[birchesgreen]

Yes numbers would work well, can be clearly displayed on the trams.

 

[danshrimp]

Unpopular perhaps but I hope they don't name the lines. T1, T2, T3 is perfectly fine.

They should rename all the WMR suburban routes S1-9 while they're at it too.

They'd both go will with the X express bus numbering system and the coherent branding they've already got.

To be clear, they're not considering giving the lines actual names. The fixed options on the survey are:

• T1/T2/T3
• A/B/C
• Birmingham - Wolverhampton/Birmingham - Dudley/Wolverhampton - Dudley
• T1 Birmingham - Wolverhampton/T2 Birmingham - Dudley/T3 Wolverhampton - Dudley

A matching set of letter-numbered lines across trams, trains and buses in the TfWM area would be excellent.

 

[Liam L]

Unpopular perhaps but I hope they don't name the lines. T1, T2, T3 is perfectly fine.

They should rename all the WMR suburban routes S1-9 while they're at it too.

They'd both go will with the X express bus numbering system and the coherent branding they've already got.

Renaming rail lines which are already well known for their current names is just a waste of time and money.

Everyone knows what Cross City line is and where it goes.

Every knows where the snow hill line goes etc etc

 

[Cross City]

Renaming rail lines which are already well known for their current names is just a waste of time and money.

Everyone knows what Cross City line is and where it goes.

Every knows where the snow hill line goes etc etc

People who aren't from Brum/Midlands are unlikely to know either of those things.

They don't even use those names on any station signage either. You don't stand on the platform and Moor St and hear the tannoy saying "The next train at platform 1 is a Snow Hill Line service to Dorridge. Calling at...".

There's just no region-wide coherence.

 

[Haywain]

Everyone knows what Cross City line is and where it goes.

Every knows where the snow hill line goes etc etc

And that will tell them whether a tram is going to Dudley or to Wolverhampton?

 

[Liam L]

People who aren't from Brum/Midlands are unlikely to know either of those things.

They don't even use those names on any station signage either. You don't stand on the platform and Moor St and hear the tannoy saying "The next train at platform 1 is a Snow Hill Line service to Dorridge. Calling at...".

There's just no region-wide coherence.

So if your saying nobody knows the current names? What would having line numbers achieve?

 

[Cross City]

So if your saying nobody knows the current names? What would having line numbers achieve?

Easier to memorise/follow/pronounce/Display on signage

 

[spp]

So if your saying nobody knows the current names? What would having line numbers achieve?

I wouldn’t say that many people know the names of train lines. 99% of people on trains just check their destination they don’t know what line it’s running on.

Trams are obviously different they can’t list all destinations and a number of ‘lines’ or ‘routes’ will be served by more than one.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Apr 2026 ==

Got on a tram yesterday morning with 3 of the 5 doors out of service! Must have all failed at the same time though according to those on here

Wolves and West Brom played at home yesterday at times thst tram would have been extremely full. Genuinely not sure it’s even safe to have that many doors out and definitely extends wait times.

 

[317 forever]

on the rest of the line Birmingham bound trains still show Edgbaston village for all trams but the ones going via Millenium Point are announced as ‘for Millenium Point’ over the tannoy as well as in the front.

Just seems to cause more slight confusion the vast majority of people boarding between Wolverhampton/West Brom won’t know or likely care where Millenium Point is. Typical Brummie arrogance from the metro though presuming everyone knows Birmingham.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Apr 2026 ==


It wasn’t opened at a weeks notice at all.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Apr 2026 ==


If the order hasn’t already been placed as a daily user (not like those on here who pop on once in a blue moon as a transport tourist) I’ll be very worried about the service levels well get once Dudley opens.

I didn't see any announcements until the week before it opened.

Feel free to show me some such announcements with dates, and I shall then stand suitably corrected. Maybe those were just local.

 

[Liam L]

I didn't see any announcements until the week before it opened.

Feel free to show me some such announcements with dates, and I shall then stand suitably corrected. Maybe those were just local.

It opened on the 5th of April, officially announced on the 2nd of April meaning 3 days notice.

West Midlands Metro (@WMmetro) on X

A new milestone for West Midlands Metro. From 5 April, the first phase of the Birmingham Eastside extension opens with two new stops — Albert Street and Millennium Point. From 5 April, trams will run to two brand‑new stops — Albert Street and Millennium Point — as the first

x.com

 

[spp]

I didn't see any announcements until the week before it opened.

Feel free to show me some such announcements with dates, and I shall then stand suitably corrected. Maybe those were just local.

They ran the route for ‘driver familiarisation’ for weeks before.

https://x.com/wmmetro/status/2033080758408212591?s=46

WMMServiceUpdate [07:20]

✅Trams are operating between Wolverhampton & Edgbaston Village.

ℹ️ Trams departing Wolverhampton St George's will terminate at Bull St for driver familiarisation training to Millennium Point. It will then re-join service from Corporation St

For more info https://shorturl.at/4J2aX

Above as early as 15th March

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Apr 2026 ==

It opened on the 5th of April, officially announced on the 2nd of April meaning 3 days notice.

West Midlands Metro (@WMmetro) on X

A new milestone for West Midlands Metro. From 5 April, the first phase of the Birmingham Eastside extension opens with two new stops — Albert Street and Millennium Point. From 5 April, trams will run to two brand‑new stops — Albert Street and Millennium Point — as the first

x.com

Wasn’t 3 days notice to the metro themselves though was it or a ‘weeks notice’ which is what my originally reply was to.

They ran driver familiarisation on the route from 15th March. I have no doubt it would have obviously been communicated internally well before then too.

They have actually finally resolved the issue so that tannoy announcements, destinations on tram and screens finally all tally up (now says Edg Vill via Millenium Point on departure boards), a few weeks too late.

 

[317 forever]

It opened on the 5th of April, officially announced on the 2nd of April meaning 3 days notice.

West Midlands Metro (@WMmetro) on X

A new milestone for West Midlands Metro. From 5 April, the first phase of the Birmingham Eastside extension opens with two new stops — Albert Street and Millennium Point. From 5 April, trams will run to two brand‑new stops — Albert Street and Millennium Point — as the first

x.com

Thank you for clarifying this. I didn't think I'd seen any announcement any earlier.

 

[ic250]

Are there any plans to upgrade Dudley Port station after the extension to Dudley town centre is open, or improve its level of service?

You would have thought that this will become a more important interchange than Sandwell and Dudley station, given its better connections and proximity to Dudley town centre.

 

[spp]

Are there any plans to upgrade Dudley Port station after the extension to Dudley town centre is open, or improve its level of service?

You would have thought that this will become a more important interchange than Sandwell and Dudley station, given its better connections and proximity to Dudley town centre.

Not seen any plans.

Does it really need an improved level of service just because it will be connected to the tram network. I think you may be over estimating Dudley town centres appeal to those from further afield if I’m being honest.

 

[birchesgreen]

Well Dudley castle is a popular local attraction no?

 

[Russel]

Id imagine one of the routes will terminate at Millennium point vice going all the way up to edgbaston.

I still don't why currently all trams have to go up to edgbaston. Surely they can manage with a tram every 12 minutes? If not there plenty of bus services going the same way as the metro!

I agree with this, every time I've used the tram up to Edgbaston, it's been very lightly loaded after Grand Central, even now after the extension has been open a couple of years, unless there is plans to extend further along the Hagley Road, I'm not really sure where any growth in passenger numbers will come from.

 

[spp]

Been a poor couple of weeks for tram reliability. It seems like they are taking a lot lot longer to resolve issues too.

St George’s was out of use for 2-3 days just after the last bank holiday due to ‘overhead wires’ issues.

Then last week a broken down tram led to a partial service (closed completely between Black Lake and West Brom) for over 3 days! Then they weirdly extended the closure to West Brom to Wednesbury one evening while they removed said tram. Why not do it out of service hours I don’t know!

On a positive they do seem to have solved the constant issues as they approach the junction coming into Wolverhampton. The driver gets out with some sort of stick and does something (I kid you not, it’s happened to me 3 times in the past few weeks but I’ve not been able to see what is done but it only takes a couple of minutes now).

Testing to start on the Dudley extension this month I believe. Can’t wait to see how having even less of these unreliable trams available affects the service.

 

[Edvid]

Is contactless PAYG still set to go live on the WMM this year, or is it being held back for next year's launch of the multi-modal Coral broker?

 

[Liam L]

Is contactless PAYG still set to go live on the WMM this year, or is it being held back for next year's launch of the multi-modal Coral broker?

The readers are starting to be installed on WMR stations which suggests to me it's close. The PAYG could in theory start as you can use swift go already by scanning your card on conductors screen and telling them we're your alighting.