General Metro Thread

[Celestial Toymaker]

The real trams are bad enough

noticed yesterday on broad street, 1/2 empty tram stopped 8 fully loaded buses behind held up tram was there a good 5 minutes maybe more, if this is going to happen everywhere then god help us,  i have still yet to see a tram fully loaded......

[Owen]

noticed yesterday on broad street, 1/2 empty tram stopped 8 fully loaded buses behind held up tram was there a good 5 minutes maybe more, if this is going to happen everywhere then god help us,  i have still yet to see a tram fully loaded......

Exactly hardly anyone wants the tram. We would rather express buses and bus lanes. Hardly any room on a tram, they are slow on the roads until they get to their own track. And if the east side tram replaces the 97 route to NEC I think that one will really cause havoc... people hanging off the top/ back of trams. Real bad traffic exc. they got rid of the trams not long before, 2012 reintroduced again. 

[Celestial Toymaker]

Exactly hardly anyone wants the tram. We would rather express buses and bus lanes. Hardly any room on a tram, they are slow on the roads until they get to their own track. And if the east side tram replaces the 97 route to NEC I think that one will really cause havoc... people hanging off the top/ back of trams. Real bad traffic exc. they got rid of the trams not long before, 2012 reintroduced again.

Trams and Trolleybuses were scrapped long before i got into buses (1975) i think they are a lame idea and a backwards step, Electric Buses & Hydrogen Buses are a good idea in theory, i saw 6 Hydrogens the other afternoon in Birmingham the first ive seen, they seem ok, Electrics that came through all very battered 2 had no fleet numbers probably due to replacement panels, they should return to BCT days were a driver was that scared to get a scratch on his bus, im told a lot of drivers carried a pot of indian ink to cover any marks

[Ronnoc]

That section of the metro is expected to not carry many passengers anyway. The terminus is at a Morrisons and once the tram leaves central Birmingham for Wolverhampton, it gets filled anyway.

And to address the anti-tram sentiments, trams are likely the future of public transport in Birmingham. Trams answer a lot of problems that Birmingham currently has with its transport. We can't stick to buses all the time because they get held up by the over-abundance of cars in this city. Many corridors that are currently run by BC would really benefit if trams ran along a similar route to alleviate the traffic, such as Bristol Road routes or Chelmsley Wood routes.

The main issue is the cost of new tram projects of course. But the main reason that British cities underperform is because of poor transport. Express buses and bus lanes are nice, but they aren't the only solution.

[Owen]

Not fair on Cars, taxis, buses, lorry's, to get dominated by a tram. What happens when one breaks down and everyone has to detour? And how is one going to fit down bordsley green road with the way the cars are halfway in the road, the trash? Never mind one going the other way. Unless it involves double red lines lol

[2206]

can't stick to buses all the time because they get held up by the over-abundance of cars in this city.

Surely bus lanes can do the same thing.
Also would be interesting to see how the trams would manage to overtake the slow moving traffic and get through the section between Heartlands and Digbeth through Bordesley Green.

I wonder what will happen with the old platform at Snow Hill, it looks very neglected these days.

[D10]

I wonder what will happen with the old platform at Snow Hill, it looks very neglected these days.

The plan is to reinstate Platform 4 at Snow Hill for rail use so this will see the site of the old tram platform swept away.

[BK63 YWP]

The plan is to reinstate Platform 4 at Snow Hill for rail use so this will see the site of the old tram platform swept away.

There were people looking at snow hill in April and May. Taking photos of PTI (Passenger Train Interface) also I think they want it to be bidirectional like the other 3.

[Owen]

There's lots of old underground systems in the city, can't the trams use that, similar to London? 

[Jack]

There's lots of old underground systems in the city, can't the trams use that, similar to London?

Means more digging up roads, moving lots of utility works, drains, sewers etc...

Trams don't need to run along every road.

[Wba_lad]

Tram 55, seen in West Bromwich central, not in service 

[BlackCountryBusSpotter]

Not a good morning for the Metro today at 06:30 a signal failure meant that Trams could not run from Wolverhampton Station to the Royal this has to be like the sixth signal failure on this section. Then at 10:41 although it was resolved half an hour later a Tram had failed on the same section so trams were terminating at the Royal. I believe Priestfeild has the capability of having both platforms used to terminate trams I remember the line from it to St George's was closed then a couple of weeks later the Trams were suspended. But how do they terminate at The Royal and what happens to the Tram that is stuck behind the one that has broken down does it remain at The Station or does is it able crossover somewhere out of service to reach the Royal. And had St Georges been open depending on where the failure was I assume Trams could have terminated there

[Sh4318]

What's going on with the metro? There's been a tram stuck in the middle of Suffolk Street Queensway (by the traffic lights) with police vehicles on either side for a while now

[Stu]

What's going on with the metro? There's been a tram stuck in the middle of Suffolk Street Queensway (by the traffic lights) with police vehicles on either side for a while now

Was just reported as a 'police incident' on Twitter by WM Metro, while NX just said 'emergency'.

Police shut major city routes over welfare concerns for man 'sat on bridge'
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/police-shut-major-city-routes-28424524

[Rachvince53]

Not a good morning for the Metro today at 06:30 a signal failure meant that Trams could not run from Wolverhampton Station to the Royal this has to be like the sixth signal failure on this section. Then at 10:41 although it was resolved half an hour later a Tram had failed on the same section so trams were terminating at the Royal. I believe Priestfeild has the capability of having both platforms used to terminate trams I remember the line from it to St George's was closed then a couple of weeks later the Trams were suspended. But how do they terminate at The Royal and what happens to the Tram that is stuck behind the one that has broken down does it remain at The Station or does is it able crossover somewhere out of service to reach the Royal. And had St Georges been open depending on where the failure was I assume Trams could have terminated there

There is a crossover just north of The Royal installed for when the Metro bridge is closed. As to any tram stuck behind the broken down tram, there is no facility to pass it owing to the line running on the street as to do so would mean running the tram against the traffic.