Birmingham's Tram Network - West Midlands Metro | An introduction

In this video, I head to Birmingham to have a look at their tram system, the West Midlands Metro. The system opened in 1999, and runs between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, with a number of extensions soon to open!
I look briefly at the history, the system, it's rolling stock and it's future!
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[@peterwilliamallen1063]

Since you did this video, now in 2024 the tram now has been extended up Broad Street to Five Ways Edgbaston now called Edgbaston Villiage and from St Georges in Wolverhampton to Wolverhampton Railway Sttion. They are also extending the tram from the Bilston Area to Dudley and later to Merry Hill and from Corporation Street in Birmingham City Centre out to Digbeth via the new HS2 station

[@tecmow4399]

Well researched vid and enjoyable to watch. I live in Birmingham and I haven’t even used the tram 😆. I try to use public transport as much as I can but the tram rarely features as a useful way to get to places I need to go between.

[@SomeoneExplores]

I did find that the route was quite an odd one tbf, but it seems to do the job

[@jaxxywaxxy]

The way you pronounced Brierley Hill infuriates me but but nice vid bro

[@chrisamies2141]

When I moved out of Birmingham in 2015 they were just putting the trams through the city centre. Seems to be a lot more of it now. The railway stations at Kings Heath and Moseley are gong to be reopened some time in the next few years (hopefully) which will give people even more options as well as the Cross Country line through Selly Oak etc. So presumably the trams won't be going to South Birmingham as well.

[@jerryn9690]

a radial tram network would have made more sense.

[@caroot100]

You must’ve had this footage from a while back cause I havnt seen the trams running in a month!

[@SomeoneExplores]

Yeah haha, this was from just after the new year!

[@malcolmgeorge1180]

I actually prefer the old fleet, has comfortable seats, and never been cracks and taken out of service like CAFs today

[@MasontheTransportEthusiast]

But the old ones are very squeakey

[@lukewhoisagamer3084]

nice vid bro

[@janebaker966]

Thanks. Very helpful video.

[@davidbull7210]

Good video. One slight correction: the line was diverted to Bull Street at the end of 2015 but then it was extended to Grand Central in 2016 (and St. Chad's was opened then too)

[@Danny94James]

No, he got it spot on. St Chads has been open since Bull Street opened, originally named Snow Hill (not to be confused with the terminal snow hill station from pre 2015) opened in December of 2015, Snow Hill was then renamed St Chads to stop the confusion with it being the same name as Snow Hill train station.

[@davidbull7210]

@@Danny94James That's interesting. If that's the case then Wikipedia must be wrong (not unheard of). I will look more into this. Actually I'm going up to Birmingham in an hour or so!
Stop press - just checked a couple of videos on YT from December 2015 and I'm right. It opened to Bull St in December but you can clearly see trams going through an unfinished Snow Hill and on to Bull St. There was a delay of several months. The line diagram says Snow Hill but this was obviously changed before opening in 2016.

[@krissmgvlogs]

Interesting.

[@Evemeister12]

I always wonder why UK cities don't invest in trolleybuses more often. They don't need as much infrastructural support i.e they don't need rails like trams do. They're environmentally friendly, cheaper that trams, and they have the flexibility of road use that trams don't.
Don't get me wrong, I think trams are lovely. But trolleybuses offer a more practical solution on all fronts.

[@cholloway0046]

Road surface degradation is one issue with high frequency trolley services.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

Sorry no they do not offer flexibility as you need specialised trolly buses and again complex over head power line equipment restricting the buses to the trolley routes, in UK cities now the buses are being built as Electric Buses which like Electric Cars run on batteries that are charged over night at the Bus Garage and are as flexible in opertion as diesel buses but with out the over head wires

[@andyandy709]

Nice informative video 👍👍

[@SomeoneExplores]

Thank you!

[@jasonking6892]

Good video

[@TransportWithDee]

Come to Manchester😎

[@salmanshahzad7616]

can we take bicycles in tram?

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

Yes I believe Bikes are allowed on the trams