Four-week West Midlands Metro closure 'only an estimate' as anger over suspension grows
Tram passengers could face Metro misery until well in to the new year.
At the West Midlands Passenger Delivery Committee yesterday the sheer scale of the problem which led to the Metro being suspended on Saturday was revealed.
Interim managing director of Transport for West Midlands Anne Shaw confirmed the four-week figure given when services will resume was just an estimate.
She said: "This is a safety issue. We have spent the weekend communicating to passengers the various alternatives they have now the Metro is not working.
"Now we are looking in terms of the return of services and we will come back at a future date when we can say the tram will start working again."
She added: "We know this is really disappointing and and this decision (to suspend services) has not been taken lightly, but first and foremost it is about safety. We are working really hard and we have a litigation in plan in place and we will keep people moving."
At the same meeting it was also revealed that the same model tram has failed in other cities, leading to criticism of bosses not using trams from different manufacturers to allow services to continue while the carriages are fixed.
When cracks were first discovered on the carriages in June, engineers welded them together which took a matter of days. However, now the entire panel where the cracks are will be replaced entirely which will take a lot longer.
Penn councillor Celia Hibbert is furious the Metro has been suspended during its busiest time of the year.
She said: "The people of Wolverhampton are frustrated, the public sentiments I have heard include 'a complete shambles', 'oh well, I might as well get in my car' and our worst fear is what people are saying which is 'never rely on public transport'.
"It is a sad, sad situation that as Christmas is approaching, the football season is in full swing that the Metro is suspended – the system was at buckling point beforehand so this is just unacceptable.
"For those of us who spend our life trying to convince people to use public transport this is a nightmare. Why were these cracks not sorted out during the pandemic when not as many people were using the trams.
"We are talking about more than half a million journeys at least which are being effected. One month of no trams is totally unacceptable."
The best scenario is a skeleton service resuming in four weeks' using nine new trams which were recently delivered to the West Midlands.
Fallings Park Councillor Chris Burden told the Express & Star: "This has never happened before, so I think the best we can hope for is a skeleton service in four weeks' time. I am really concerned for areas on the tramline which rely on it, places like Bilston, Tipton and West Bromwich are deprived and need connectivity."
