West Midlands Metro rolling stock

The West Midlands Metro is a passenger light rail line in the West Midlands conurbation in England, which opened in 1999. Its rolling stock consists of 21 Urbos 3 trams which came into service in 2014/15, replacing the older T-69 trams which had operated the line since 1999.

Urbos 3

Urbos 3
Urbos 3 No.20 on show at Wolverhampton
In service	2014 – Present
Manufacturer	CAF
Built at	Zaragoza, Spain
Replaced	All remaining T69
Constructed	2012-2015
Number built	21
Formation	5 sections with 4 articulations.[1]
Fleet numbers	17-37
Capacity	210 (54 seats, 156 standing)[1]
Operator(s)	West Midlands Metro
Line(s) served	Wolverhampton - Birmingham
Specifications
Car length	33 m (108 ft 3 in)[1]
Width	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)[1]
Height	3.4 m (11 ft 2 in)
Maximum speed	70 km/h (43 mph)[1]
Weight	56 tonnes (55 long tons; 62 short tons)
Traction system	Twelve 80 kW (110 hp) traction motors
Electric system(s)	750 V DC OHLE
Current collection method	Pantograph
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge

A new fleet of 21 CAF Urbos 3 trams began to enter service in September 2014, they replaced the old T-69 fleet in 2015.^[2] In February 2012 Centro named CAF the preferred bidder for a contract to supply 19 to 25 Urbos 3 trams.^[3] A £40 million firm order for 20 was subsequently signed, with options for five more.^[4] The first of the new trams was unveiled at the Wednesbury depot in October 2013,^[5] with the first four entering service on 5 September 2014.^[2]

The new fleet provided an increased service of 10 trams per hour in each direction, with an increased capacity of 210 passengers per tram, compared with the 156 passengers on the former T69 trams. The Urbos 3 trams are 33 m (108 ft) long; 9 m (30 ft) longer than the former T69 stock, and have a maximum operating speed of 70 km/h (43 mph). They are low floor throughout, and consists of five sections with four articulations. Three of the modules are mounted on bogies and the other two modules are suspended.^[1]

At 2.65 m (8 ft 8 in) wide, The Urbos 3 trams are slightly wider than the 2.48 m (8 ft 2 in) wide T69s. The line was closed for two weeks during March and April 2013, in order for the platforms on each of the stops to be narrowed by 15 cm (5.9 in) to accommodate the new trams. The T69s were modified with wider steps to be compatible with the narrower platforms.^[6]

In 2016, it was announced that the Urbos 3 fleet would be fitted with rechargeable batteries to allow them to operate along various extensions of the Midland Metro network intended to be constructed without overhead lines.^[7]. The first tram to be fitted this way, number 31, was relaunched in a new blue livery on 16 July 2018.^[8]

• 
  Interior of an Urbos 3
• 
  Urbos 3s at the depot in Wednesbury
• 
  Urbos 3 No.35 approaching St Paul's tram stop
• 
  Tram 31 in blue West Midland Metro livery

Former fleet

T-69

T-69
Tram 05 in original livery at West Bromwich Central
In service	1999 – 2015
Manufacturer	AnsaldoBreda
Built at	Naples, Italy
Constructed	1996 – 1999
Refurbishment	2013
Scrapped	2018
Number built	16
Number preserved	3 (1 for use as an engineering vehicle)
Number scrapped	13
Formation	2 sections per tram, articulated intersection
Fleet numbers	01–16
Capacity	156 (56 seats, 100 standing)[11]
Operator(s)	National Express Midland Metro
Line(s) served	Wolverhampton - Birmingham Snow Hill
Specifications
Car body construction	Aluminium
Car length	24.36 m (79 ft 11 in)[11]
Width	2.48 m (8 ft 2 in)[6]
Height	3.7 m (12 ft 2 in)
Maximum speed	43.5 mph (70 km/h)
Weight	38 tonnes (37 long tons; 42 short tons) per tram [11]
Traction system	Four 105 kW (141 hp) separately-excited DC traction motors
Electric system(s)	750 V DC Overhead lines
Current collection method	Pantograph Type: Brecknell Willis high reach
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

Sixteen T-69 trams, were the original fleet, introduced into service in 1999, These were withdrawn from service gradually during 2014/15 as the new Urbos 3 fleet was introduced. The last, no. 16, was withdrawn from service in August 2015.^[12]

In February 2016 proposals were unveiled to convert the Isle of Wight Island Line into a tram line. It was reported that the remaining T-69s could be purchased second hand and re-used for this scheme.^[13]

The T69s were used only on the Midland Metro, and were built by the Italian company AnsaldoBreda. Their closest "brothers" were the SL95 running in Oslo, Norway. At 24.36 m (79 ft 11 in) long, the T-69s were the shortest modern tramcars in Britain. The vehicles are articulated, resting on three bogies, and have low floors over about 60% of the length. The central section of the trams is low floor, with inwards facing seating at the sides, while at each end is a raised seating area, accessible by steps. Each tram has 56 seats, with space for another 100 standing. They are accessible from three 1.25 m (4 ft 1 in) wide entrances on each side, with twin plug doors.^[11]

At delivery, all trams had a livery of a blue body, red fronts, grey skirt and yellow doors, but several were refurbished and repainted in Network West Midlands' silver and magenta livery. From their entry into service, each tram had a roller-blind style destination board. in 2013, these were replaced with new LED Destination boards on all trams.^[14]

Most trams were named after local celebrities or people of note.^[15] After withdrawal 1-15 were placed in storage at Long Marston. In 2018 two were donated for preservation with the remaining 13 sold for scrap. Tram 16 remains at Wednesbury Depot, having been retained as an engineering vehicle. ^[16][17]

Fleet Number	Tram Name	Livery	Notes
01		Original (blue, red, grey, yellow)	Scrapped
02		Original	Scrapped
03	Ray Lewis	Original	Scrapped
04	Sir Frank Whittle	Original	Scrapped
05	Sister Dora	Silver and Magenta	Scrapped
06	Alan Garner	Original	Scrapped
07	Billy Wright[18]	Silver and Magenta	Preserved by UK Tram[16]
08	Joseph Chamberlain	Original	Scrapped
09	Jeff Astle	Silver and Magenta	Scrapped
10	John Stanley Webb	Silver and Magenta	Scrapped
11	Theresa Stewart	Birmingham Corporation	Preserved by City of Birmingham[16]
12		Original	Scrapped
13	Anthony Nolan	Original	Scrapped
14	Jim Eames	Original	Scrapped
15	Agenoria	Original	Scrapped
16	Gerwyn John[19]	Original	Retained as engineering vehicle

• 
  Interior of a T69
• 
  Sideways view of tram 06 in original livery
• 
  Tram 09 in silver and magenta livery in 2008
• 
  Trams 09 and 14 on the street running section in Wolverhampton in 2006

Maintenance vehicles

National Express Midland Metro, the operator of the tramway, acquired a number of vehicles for maintaining the line. These included a Unimog,^[20] a road-rail lifting platform and one of the formerly used T69s (Tram 16).^[21]

References

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to T-69 tram.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Urbos 3 trams in the West Midlands.