The next phase of Midland Metro has opened.....three years after t
he extension down Corporation Street, the tram now extends from 'Grand Central' - for New Street station, to 'Library', better known as Centenary Square. And it's catenary free! The
CAF Urbos trams have received batteries which allow them to work through the historic Victoria Square without the need for visually intrusive overhead wires.
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| A Midland Metro CAF Urbos tram navigates the junction from Hill Street on to Paradise Street. The Frankfurt Christmas Market is in full swing in the background. |
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| The first of the two new stops is called Town Hall. I'd have called it Victoria Square. Despite being delivered with pink branding for Network West Midlands just a few years ago, Transport for [the] West Midlands (as I think Centro is now called) decided on another rebrand of the public transport network, which has resulted in the trams now being blue. Trains, historically green, have had to be painted gold. Wasteful! Oh, and Midland Metro isn't a metro.... |
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| The second of the new stops, and new temporary terminus, is Library. I think it would more logically be called Centenary Square, as it is home to a number of attractions as well as the Library, including the International Convention Centre and Repertory Theatre. The big wheel behind is a temporary addition in the run up to Christmas. |
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| Between Town Hall and Library the Midland Metro negotiates the inner ring road. It looks like a sea of cones is going to give way to a sea of potentially quite complicated road markings. On the pus side the bottom of Broad Street, round the Library Metro stop, looks like it is going to be bus only. |
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| The impact of a West Bromwich Albion home game? Trams are supposed to operate every 8 minutes but on Saturday 21 December headways were all over the place. Presumably there's no event timetable to account for this. |
