West Midlands Metro

West Midlands Metro
Basic information
Country	Great Britain
city	Birmingham
opening	May 30, 1999
operator	Midland Metro Ltd.
Web presence	westmidlandsmetro.com
Infrastructure
Route length	20.2 km
Gauge	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system	750 V DC overhead line
Stops	26 (9 more will be built)
business
Lines	1
Cruising speed	35 km / h
vehicles	21 CAF Urbos 3
Top speed	70 km / h
statistics
Passengers	13,000 per day (2009/10)

The West Midlands Metro is a low-floor regional light rail in the West Midlands in England , which connects Birmingham with the neighboring cities of West Bromwich , Wednesbury and Wolverhampton .

The currently only Line 1 runs the 20.2 km long connection between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, which opened on May 31, 1999. It largely follows a railway line of the Great Western Railway that has been closed for many years . The southern terminus was at Birmingham Snow Hill Station until 2015 , but has since been extended to Grand Central Station in Birmingham city center . At the northern end of the route, the West Midlands Metro leaves the railway line just before Wolverhampton and travels as a "real" tram to St. George's terminus.

Extensions

Although the line's success has remained far below expectations for various reasons, several expansions are planned. It was investigated to run the tram in the city center of Birmingham in a tunnel, as is the case, for example, with German light rail vehicles. However, as the costs for this seemed too high, it was decided to conduct an initial phase on the surface. This includes the connection from the station Snow Hill to New Street Station , which in 2015 ^[date] to be put into operation. By 2017 ^[obsolete] the route in the south will be extended by two more stops via City Hall to Centenary Square. It is planned to then extend the route further to Edgbaston via Five Ways station. The line is also to be extended at the northern end in Wolverhampton.

A second line is being planned in the center of Birmingham.

The following important information is missing from this article or section:

Current status of the extensions and tram for Ozzy - Flominator 16:16, May 29, 2016 (CEST)

Help Wikipedia by researching and pasting it .

vehicles

From 1996 to 1999, 16 partially low-floor, three-part two-way articulated wagons of the type T-69, each with 56 seats, were delivered by AnsaldoBreda from Italy, twelve of which were still in operation in 2014. They are 24.36 meters long and 2.48 meters wide.

From 2012, 20 five-part articulated Urbos 3 cars were built by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) in Spain for the Midland Metro. These are 33 meters long and 2.65 meters wide and offer 54 seats. The first four cars were put into operation in September 2014 and all T-69 vehicles could already be replaced in August 2015.

business

Line 1 is served from 5:15 a.m. to midnight. On weekdays (Mondays to Saturdays) between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., the ride is every 6 to 8 minutes, at other times every 15 minutes. The depot and control center are located near Great Western Street in Wednesbury.

Web links

Commons : West Midlands Metro  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• West Midlands Metro

Individual evidence

1. ^ Birmingham City Center Extension and Fleet Replacement . Archived from the original on March 1, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 13, 2013.