Midland Metro Rolling Stock

[bb21]

Does anyone know for sure how many units there have been in total and how many are still operational?

Wiki suggests 16, however I have never seen Tram 16 before.

I assume that Trams 01, 02 and 03 are the ones already scrapped?

 

[causton]

You've seen 16 now

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37070856@N04/6987573340/

...and that's as much help as I can give - searching tram numbers on Flickr

 

[bb21]

You've seen 16 now

Grr. Why did I not think of doing that?

So the question is now: which ones have been scrapped?

 

[Crossover]

Can't help too much, bit have any become Christmas Trees?

 

[MetroDriver]

We have 16 trams in the fleet - all have been in use since we opened in 1999.

Tram's 1 and 2 are currently "mothballed" in our sidings being used for parts to keep the remaining fleet operational for now.

No tram has been scrapped.

 

[transmanche]

Are the trams particularly poor? 15 years seems a very short time for them to need replacing.

 

[Peter Jones]

Is there anything in particular up with tram 11? Apart from trams 1 and 2, its the only one I need for haulage. I have been to the Metro 6 times in the last 12 months, and it has never been out when I have been there.

Thanks

 

[anthony263]

Are the trams particularly poor? 15 years seems a very short time for them to need replacing.

I heard that there were some reliability problems with them. Mind you how old were the original trams on the Manchester Metrolink when they were replaced?

 

[MetroDriver]

The trams haven't actually reached their end of life - the requirement for trams to run on the new extension into New Street meant a new fleet was required as our existing trams simply won't articulate enough to get round some street corners, plus they would be too small to cope with anticipated passenger capacity.

Tram 11 has been out - we do rotate the fleet around in order to ease the maintenance programme.

Tram 16 has been out of action for a prolonged period but is currently in the engineers shed being worked on.

 

[transmanche]

The trams haven't actually reached their end of life - the requirement for trams to run on the new extension into New Street meant a new fleet was required as our existing trams simply won't articulate enough to get round some street corners, plus they would be too small to cope with anticipated passenger capacity.

Fair doos. Will they be sold on to somewhere else (like the original DLR units), or sent for scrap?

 

[MetroDriver]

No firm indication as yet - the new trams will be introduced into service one by one so there will be quite an overlap with BOTH fleets running for a while yet, until the extension opens - when the new fleet only will be on the streets of Birmingham.

 

[bb21]

We have 16 trams in the fleet - all have been in use since we opened in 1999.

Tram's 1 and 2 are currently "mothballed" in our sidings being used for parts to keep the remaining fleet operational for now.

No tram has been scrapped.

Thanks. I look forward to finding Tram 03 and 16 on the streets.

On a recent trip (midday weekday), I counted 10 trams on the road. Do you know how many more come out of the depot for the extra runs during the peak?

 

[Manchester77]

Yeah here in manchester, our ansaldo trams are going. The T68A units only entered service in 1999. The electrics are pretty crap in them though, especially the T68As. Either 2001/2006 has been rewired after being out of service for a few years. The first T68 to be withdrawn was 1011 in 2012 which entered service in 1992 making it just 20 years old. However the fleet has suffered from years of under investment and over usage due to lack of trams. Corrosion is also an issue as they're more akin to heavy rail vehicles and with all the grit salt spread on the cities roads hasn't treated the old girls well!

Of the newer T68A vehicles just two out of the six built remain in service! I think they were all withdrawn after failures in service!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Are the trams particularly poor? 15 years seems a very short time for them to need replacing.

Have you seen who built them?

 

[starrymarkb]

Are the trams particularly poor? 15 years seems a very short time for them to need replacing.

Midland Metro have publicly stated that they are "Crap" and that no two trams are identical.

They were "built" by the same company who made the Fyra V250, Danish IC4 and other "quality products..

They've lasted far better then the Fyra, that looks like the trains may be scrapped after less then 6 weeks of passenger service

 

[atsf_fT]

Does anyone know for sure how many units there have been in total and how many are still operational?

Wiki suggests 16, however I have never seen Tram 16 before.

I assume that Trams 01, 02 and 03 are the ones already scrapped?

trams 01-02 were at the front of the depot visable from the tram stop ,but were moved over the back of the depot sometime in the winter.

tram 16 worked fine until about the mid march in the snow , then failed with wheel set problems !

16 was then dumped outside the front of the depot from march till about 3 weeks ago and has since had new wheel tyers fitted on the problem end and is at the moment in the shed hopefully it will be out soon

midland metro summer http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=71894

midland metro in winter
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=78475

midland metro at night
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=80545

 

[edwin_m]

I see on your middle photo (they seem to be repeated three times for some reason - Mod Note - tidied up) there is a good helping of spaghetti on board.

 

[MetroDriver]

Here's something of a sneaky look at something special at Metro

To mark 60 years since the last trams ran in Birmingham, one of our fleet is currently being reliveried into the old Birmingham Corporation Tramways colours...

There has been a small announcement made by Network West Midlands as they were looking for any ex-staff from 1953 to take part in a special event coming up, but for Metro, this tram is going to be unique

I'll keep you guessing on the fleet identity of this special tram for now, but all will be fully revealed very soon.

For now, enjoy the sneak preview of 'work in progress' :

 

[MetroDriver]

Progress shot from today

 

[atsf_fT]

Progress shot from today

fantastic looking forward to see this out and about , i think i can guess the number of the tram too

 

[martinsh]

Any ideas when it will be out on the road ?

 

[MetroDriver]

23rd August is the date of the ceremony at Snow Hill with this tram

 

[MetroDriver]

Well the overall colour change seems relatively complete - photos from this evening when it was moved out of the engineer's shed and it can be seen outside by passing trams and public....

Not sure how much more detailing is involved but there are quite a few standard parts yet to be fitted back such as wiper arms etc

 

[Tramfan]

Wow, that looks really smart!

 

[furgus2]

It looks fab! Better, in my opinion, than any livery used by Midland Metro

 

[atsf_fT]

Tram 1x looks fantastic will it have its old number back, or might carry 617?

I'm looking forward to getting some photos

Tram 16 which has been out of use since around march with, I think, wheel problems, has hit the rails again but failed today at "The royal".

Metro's quick response team turned up and had it running back to the depot within 5 minutes

 

[MetroDriver]

The mystery tram will retain it's correct fleet number (anything else would confuse us as the tram's ID is also on the location software via a transponder)

Tram 16's return to service was not without some issues - it's back with the engineers but I'm sure it's only teething problems
(Not entirely sure why your last bit was edited?)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Small update - Tram "1x" will be taken down to Birmingham Snow Hill for approx 11am on the 23rd for the ceremony scheduled for 11:30am.
As of today, no differences in the look, but there will be more 'detailing' carried out before it is unveiled next Friday

I'll be there - I'm driving it

 

[atsf_fT]

thanks for the info , lets hope the sun is out to get some good photos .

 

[AndyW33]

Looks splendid to me, and I hope to see it in service soon. On the photos the blue looks more like the WMPTE shade than the Birmingham City Tramways/Transport shade, certainly the buses and the preserved tram were/are much darker, but the real thing in daylight may look just fine.

 

[MetroDriver]

In the first photos (all taken on mobile so not good quality), the blue is indeed different. It had all been changed to a better shade by the time the second lot of photos were taken as it was obvious there had been a difference in the colour choice...
I thought it looked more WMPTE originally, but having seen how it looks now and comparing it to a few shots of how they looked, it is now a good representation of the livery, which is all it was meant to be.... I was hoping to see lining too, and a sign-written style fleet number along with the BCT crests, so I will be keeping an eye on progress of course

Update: this morning the completed tram was pressed into service due to a fleet shortage, so it's now quite obvious being out already, but here's what it looks like complete with old style fleet numbers and of course the BCT crest halfway down the bodywork:

[/url] Tram 11 Theresa Stewart BCT Side On by hunterxf382, on Flickr[/IMG]