Front Runners to Build New Midland Metro Fleet Announced

[sprinterguy]

The five front-runners in the race to supply the new multi-million pound tram fleet that will take the Midland Metro forward into the 21st century have been selected.The five companies are Alstom, Bombardier, CAF, Siemens and Stadler. They have been invited by Centro, to bid for a contract which is worth up to £50 million.

The procurement process is expected to last around 12 months and the new trams will be brought into service from late 2014, with the Midland Metro extension from Snow Hill to New Street station coming on line in 2015.
The extension will create 1,300 sustainable new jobs and boost the West Midlands economy by £50 million a year as the new trams increase passenger capacity between Birmingham and the Black Country.

Councillor Angus Adams, chairman of Centro, said: “This is an exciting development in the story of the Midland Metro. All of the candidates are leaders in their field and users of the Midland Metro can be assured that whoever is chosen will be delivering vehicles of the highest quality.”

So, basically, they haven't ruled out many manufacturers yet!

 

[gordonthemoron]

Hopefully they'll be a bit more reliable than the Bombardier Variobahn trams which started use in Munich in 2010 and have since disappeared

 

[Ivo]

I think the best bidder for the Midland Metro is "Scraps R Us"! On current evidence, the scheme is not a success. Not even close. Even my optimistic plans for a Southend system have a projected patronage of triple what they are getting!

Seriously, I quite like most modern trams. However, the current T69s are not exactly sufficient or likeable. I would prefer a Flexity Swift model I feel.

 

[sprinterguy]

The Midland Metro is unfortunate in being Birminghams’ biggest transport secret, due to the lack of visibility of the system through being hidden away in a hole in the ground on the edge of the city centre at Snow Hill and due to a lack of publicity of the system. It was also located on a course of an old railway route, for ease of construction, when land use patterns have long since changed from those that are favourable for rail. Most people I know are not aware that there is such a thing as the Midland Metro.

The extension into the city centre onto Corporation Street and down to New Street station in 2015 should help matters somewhat to increase the systems’ visibility, but new trams will definitely be required as the capacity of the system is basically already capped by the size and number of the T-69 trams (Unless more off peak leisure travellers can be attracted to the system).

The T-69s are absolutely hopeless. The arrangement of the wiring on each one is completely different with no standardisation, and they’re not nearly long enough. I'd be happy to see nineteen Flexity Swifts in the West Midlands.

Midland Metro carries 5 million passengers each year, which is a third of what it was originally forecasted to carry.

 

[starrymarkb]

No Alsando Breda? Best News

Variobahn is a Stadler product.

 

[tbtc]

The T-69s are absolutely hopeless. The arrangement of the wiring on each one is completely different with no standardisation

I've heard this before, and I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to build each tram slightly differently like this - am I missing something?

 

[sprinterguy]

I've heard this before, and I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to build each tram slightly differently like this - am I missing something?

They're Italian, and I'm sure we all know what the electrics on older Alfa Romeos are like!
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No Alsando Breda? Best News

I don’t think they’d stand much chance of winning the order even if they did bid for it!