Action on Metro after complaints over noise

A loud screeching noise heard on Midland Metro trams has prompted an investigation by bosses following complaints from passengers.

The problem has been blamed on worn tracks and pot holes on Bilston Road, where trams travel on lines built into the road surface. Metal grinders will now be used on the tracks in a bid to solve the problem.

Twenty five new trams are to replace the ageing fleet of 16 and a £13 million expansion of the Wednesbury maintenance depot is to take place.

The Metro opened in 1999 and trams run along Bilston Road from the New Inn restaurant up to the Royal Hospital.

But that stretch is considered particularly noisy by passengers, who complained to the Wolverhampton Transport Users' Forum.

Mark Langford, spokesman for transport authority Centro, said: "The track suffers natural wear and tear from the tram going over it. It's a process called ridging.

"We need to use an angle grinder to put it right. It's an overnight job so it won't affect the running of the Metro and we will do it over the course of a few days.

"We don't have a date yet for when it will happen but it will be soon."

Metro passenger Stan Monument, aged 74, of Aspen Way, Merridale, said: "The noise has been getting much worse.

"I have to try to get to the front when I get on where it's quietest but even there you can hear it."

The enlarged depot is due to be in operation by August next year, with the first of the new trams entering service in February, 2014.

The replacement of the fleet, by Spanish manufacturer CAF, is part of the £128m extension of the Metro from Birmingham Snow Hill to the city's New Street station.