Trams return to city centre streets after 62 years

Trams are running through the streets of Birmingham city centre for the first time in 62 years, after the first stage of the Midland Metro extension opened on 6 December.

The new section takes the line from Snow Hill station through to Bull Street, in the heart of the shopping district.

The first stage

Until now, the Metro line from Wolverhampton ended at Snow Hill station, on the edge of the city centre, using one of the old railway platforms. The old terminus closed in October so that the line could be diverted on to a new route through the streets.

Trams now run from St Paul's along the new route to a temporary terminus at Bull Street. The next stage, along Corporation Street and Stephenson Street to New Street station, is due to open next year.

62 years on

Birmingham once had one of the largest tram networks in Britain, but the last trams ran in 1953, when the city switched to buses. The return of trams to the streets marks a remarkable turnaround for a form of transport that was once thought to be a thing of the past.

New trams

The trams running on the extension are part of a new fleet built by the Spanish manufacturer CAF, which has been replacing the Metro's original Italian-built trams since last year. The new trams are longer and can carry more passengers.

Last month, the Queen named one of the new trams at Bull Street during her visit to officially open the rebuilt New Street station, and took a short ride on it.

Years of roadworks

Work on the extension began in June 2012, when the transport minister Norman Baker launched the project at the junction of Corporation Street and Bull Street. Since then, the city centre has endured years of roadworks, as water pipes and power cables were moved and tracks were laid.

Businesses along the route have complained about the disruption, and shoppers and drivers will be glad to see progress being made.

The bigger picture

When the Metro opened in 1999, it was meant to be the first line of a larger network, but plans for further lines to places such as Birmingham Airport and Dudley were never built. The transport authority has instead focused on extending the network in smaller stages, starting with the city centre.

Further extensions are planned, including to Centenary Square and Edgbaston, and to Curzon Street and Digbeth, where the HS2 station will be built.

For now, the new section gives passengers from the Black Country a direct tram ride into the shopping streets, and gives Birmingham its first taste of trams on its streets for more than six decades.