SNCF stephen Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 You may have noticed I have uploaded a significant number of images regarding the Midland Metro being installed. They can be found here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/album/1834-midland-metro-the-early-days/ But here are a few that are not in that gallery: There are plenty more to come including a great shot of the mock up tram in the original livery! Hope you enjoy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 The Ansaldo T69's look like they will be departing the Midlands at some time in 2014 as CAF have been awarded the contract for a new fleet of up to 25 trams. I had hoped for Citadis trams (especially considering the artists impression showed these types!) More info can be found on this web site. http://www.britishtramsonline.co.uk/news/?p=532 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLD Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 And the Centro Press release is here. My reading of that is that there is a firm order for 19 trams to be delivered by late 2014 (16 replace the existing cars and 3 extra for the increased requirement to maintain current frequencies when the Snow Hill - New Street extension opens) plus options for up to 6 more at sometime after 2014 for "hope to offer more frequent services"... Interestingly no mention of other proposed extensions (or rolling stock for them) which is unusual for a Centro Press Release... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 And the Centro Press release is here. My reading of that is that there is a firm order for 19 trams to be delivered by late 2014 (16 replace the existing cars and 3 extra for the increased requirement to maintain current frequencies when the Snow Hill - New Street extension opens) plus options for up to 6 more at sometime after 2014 for "hope to offer more frequent services"... Interestingly no mention of other proposed extensions (or rolling stock for them) which is unusual for a Centro Press Release... I think it is a sign of the times. Future extensions will be smaller in scope e.g. Wolverhampton City Loop or an extension to Eastside for HS2. Even Wednesbury to Brierley Hill is well and truly on the back burner now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Centro are now pushing for further extensions into Birmingham with the completion of the City Centre extension to Five Ways and a new spur to the HS2 link at Curzon Street (Phase 1) then the link will continue to the Airport in Phases 2 and 3. It is also interesting to note that Centro have just announced that they are hoping to bid for funding to deliver half of the Wolverhampton loop. This will divert the line via the bus station to the Train Station. This would mean that the St Georges stop is likely to see less use should this proposal go ahead (with someone in the know telling me that it would be likely to only be used in an emergency!). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 They seem to have been a bit wrong-footed by the HS2 proposals. The City Centre extension, for which I believe they have just placed a construction contract, comes from Snow Hill southwards down Corporation Street, across New Street then turning west onto Stephenson Street to terminate near the "new" entrance to New Street station. To get to Curzon Street it needs to go further east, with no obvious method of connecting Snow Hill, Curzon/Moor Street and New Street stations with a single route. Do they intend to reverse at New Street to Curzon Street or put in a triangle where Corporation Street meets New Street? Either way it will result in a confusing service pattern for those using the tram to interchange between stations - perhaps they also need some kind of travelator link under the Bullring? A bit reminiscent of what has happened in Dublin where they built a terminus at Connolly then changed their minds and decided to go east instead. In Wolverhampton the original loop was intended to be a one-way clockwise and I think they were also to build a double track stub to the station on the alighment of the eventual (maybe) 5Ws route. Presumably if they are building half of it, it will be double track, which must make it very unlikely the other half will ever happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RThompson Posted May 7, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 7, 2012 They did a survey of the approach to Wolverhampton over 4 years ago when i used to work in wolverhampton for a certain company but back then it didn't look promising from what i was told. Now the new bus stn has been built, (and returning to wolverhampton last week driving buses exactly 4 years after i left was interesting as so much has changed there including the old canteen building i spent many hours in/original entrance to Wolverhampton railway stn is now a WH Smith!) the problem with the soil may have been sorted whilst this was being built. I've noticed TFL has bought new trams similar to the photo on the centro press release which i'm personally not keen on but thats the way things are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 I've noticed TFL has bought new trams similar to the photo on the centro press release which i'm personally not keen on but thats the way things are. May look similar but they are different designs made by different people. TfL have bought from Stadler in Germany. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 Do they intend to reverse at New Street to Curzon Street or put in a triangle where Corporation Street meets New Street? Either way it will result in a confusing service pattern for those using the tram to interchange between stations - perhaps they also need some kind of travelator link under the Bullring? A bit reminiscent of what has happened in Dublin where they built a terminus at Connolly then changed their minds and decided to go east instead. From what I gather it may be that the initial extension to Curzon Street would be a short term solution (the longer Phase 2 extension towards Yardley is their intermediate and more pra and I would expect a triangle junction to go in at the Corporation St/New Street area. This would allow services to run from Five Ways to Curzon Street. This would fit in with Birminghams aspiration to create a busless city centre (except for Sprint and Metro). By having this link it would gain patronage by having all of the buses terminating at Five Ways with passengers continueing into the city centre on tram. The Five Ways link would also allow trams to link to Snow Hill and the Jewelerry Quarter. In Wolverhampton the original loop was intended to be a one-way clockwise and I think they were also to build a double track stub to the station on the alighment of the eventual (maybe) 5Ws route. Presumably if they are building half of it, it will be double track, which must make it very unlikely the other half will ever happen. You are right that the half of the loop will be double track. However it is important to realise that with St Georges still remaining in situ it will make sense for them to pursue the options to improve connectivity around the city centre. One thing that has struck me is that Centro are progressing a tactic whereby they are trying to improve patronage to gain further funding later on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhall Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Do they intend to reverse at New Street to Curzon Street or put in a triangle where Corporation Street meets New Street? Either way it will result in a confusing service pattern for those using the tram to interchange between stations - perhaps they also need some kind of travelator link under the Bullring? A bit reminiscent of what has happened in Dublin where they built a terminus at Connolly then changed their minds and decided to go east instead. I can't help thinking that the HS2 proposal misses a great oportunity to build an all new Birmingham station at Curzon Street, that Serves HS2, but also replaces New Street, and has Chiltern patforms as well - all lines seem to pass very close to Curzon Street, and there seems (on Google Earth at least) to be the space to do such a thing - giving a proper 'hub' rather than the need to walk or tram between stations. Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Interesting thought. You could perhaps raise the HS2 station up on stilts and have a New Street replacement underneath, with a link to existing Moor Street. Like Liverpool South Parkway on a grand scale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 I can't help thinking that the HS2 proposal misses a great oportunity to build an all new Birmingham station at Curzon Street, that Serves HS2, but also replaces New Street, and has Chiltern patforms as well - all lines seem to pass very close to Curzon Street, and there seems (on Google Earth at least) to be the space to do such a thing - giving a proper 'hub' rather than the need to walk or tram between stations. Jon At Birminghams recent Transport Summit they seemed to suggest that travellators might be used in some form. Since the station is costing £1bn to construct there is scope to incorporate the Moor Street Station and I believe they will share a concourse, however I doubt that New Street will be replaced in my lifetime. Therefore Metro would seem like a reasonable alternative. Saying that, Tram Train might mean that Cross City Line trains in the future could theoretically run through the streets of Birmingham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I'd like to think they would keep the concourse at Moor Street with an easy connection through to Curzon Street. But I agree that travelators are probably the best option to link to New Street, especially if you could get rid of the traffic out of that tunnel under the Bullring. Tram-train for Cross City is a non-starter. Imagine how many trams you'd need to replace a 6-car EMU every 10min - even if you found room for them on the streets there's no way they would fit between other trains out to Kings Norton and beyond Longbridge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 I'd like to think they would keep the concourse at Moor Street with an easy connection through to Curzon Street. But I agree that travelators are probably the best option to link to New Street, especially if you could get rid of the traffic out of that tunnel under the Bullring. I think that is the plan but since the station has yet to be designed I am not sure how it will be configured. Since they are spending a lot on the area there is potential to integrate and preserve a lot of the heritage while improving pedestrian links. I have read that the station will be elevated from ground level and this would allow for easier through movements of pedestrians in the area which would improve the regeneration potential of the station. Tram-train for Cross City is a non-starter. Imagine how many trams you'd need to replace a 6-car EMU every 10min - even if you found room for them on the streets there's no way they would fit between other trains out to Kings Norton and beyond Longbridge. I do agree with you, my comment was based on the pie in the sky report from Midlands Today. However there could be other services that might be Tram Train, thus improving links through the city. I know Centro are keen to press on with the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension which is currently mooted as being Tram Train, however this is a totally different kettle of fish to the cross city line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 The work on the ground has started with all the buses going through Corporation Street being diverted away to the new bus malls. I managed to get a snap of a bus on Friday evening next to New Street Station. Had I been a bit more thoughtful I would have taken some more as they have now been consigned to the history books. I was lucky enough to visit the Depot extension last week and the earthworks have now been completed on the new sidings. They expect to have it all done in just over a year which is quite impressive. Trams 1 and 2 were seen close up and these had been used as a source of spares for some time. I will try and get photographs of the work as it progresses and update this topic every so often. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 The first new tram is nearly complete. I believe it is getting delivered in September: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-23150033 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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