Midland Metro improve ride quality

[Lewisham2221]

Smoother tram ride welcomed

Public transport bosses have welcomed work by the operator of the Midland Metro to make the tram ride through West Bromwich smoother and quieter.

Specialist track maintenance is now underway and set to continue for the next few weeks. The work will take place overnight and only cause minimal disruptions to services on two Sunday mornings.

The operator has given the assurance of a better ride following recent complaints by members of the watchdog West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority (PTA).

“The noise problem is due to wear and tear on the track and wheels, which is to be expected from such a heavily-used system,” says Cllr Roger Horton, Metro lead member on the PTA. “Travel Midland Metro runs more than 98 per cent of journeys on time and the number of passengers is growing so that’s all good news. We just want a smoother ride as well.”

Wheels on the critical centre section of Midland Metro trams are now ‘re-profiled’ more regularly as part of routine maintenance. To smooth some of the rails on the six year-old network, tram operator Travel Midland Metro has also called in specialist equipment which is based in mainland Europe and had to be booked well in advance. Costs for the rail grinding equipment to visit the UK are being shared with London Trams, as similar work is required on the capital’s tram network.

Date: 07-Sep-05
Category: News : Midland Metro
Contact: Barton, Mik - [email protected]

From CENTRO

 

[andrewmay]

This is good news as the ride quality, in terms of noise and smoothness, is quite bad especially the noise from the middle bogie which is constant on some trams. I look forward to the ride on the Metro being more bearable now.

Cheers,
Andrew