Latest West Midlands Metro suspension is third time in nine months cracks have been found

Bosses announced on Saturday morning that the service, that is supposed to run between every six and eight minutes between Wolverhampton and Birmingham city centre, was being suspended for the rest of the day, sparking fury amongst passengers and politicians.

So far no detailed reason for stopping the trams has been given, with West Midlands Metro citing "operational issues".

It's the latest instalment of a saga that has been rumbling on for since the summer of 2021 and caused constant disruption for those who rely on the route.

The Spanish-built CAF Urbos 3 trams were withdrawn from service twice last year after cracks were found on two separate occasions, leaving customers in locations such as West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Bilston without a service for days and weeks at a time.

Here's a summary of the last nine months of problems to hit the tram service.

June 2021

Services were suspended on June 11 when all 21 trams were withdrawn for the vehicle manufacturer to identify cracks in the under-frame structure at either end.

A reduced service was restarted four days later after inspections were completed and the affected trams repaired.

After services were withdrawn Steve McAleavy, managing director Midland Metro Ltd, said: "Firstly I want to say how sorry we are for the inconvenience the suspension has caused to the many people who depend on West Midlands Metro services everyday.

"The Metro team have done an outstanding job during the pandemic to continue to deliver safe and reliable services, so it is a great disappointment that we have had to suspend services just when people are travelling more confidently."

He also said the manufacturer of the fleet of CAF Urbos 3 trams had identified cracks in the under-frame structure at either end of the tram and were unable to assure Metro chiefs the cracks did not represent a safety issue if they continued to run.

November 2021

Five months later, almost to the day, all trams were withdrawn again when more cracks were found, requiring most extensive repairs.

The Express & Star spoke to a tram driver who said they only found out the services would be stopped when it was publicly announced on November 11.

This time the closure was much longer, initially announced as being for at least four weeks, which was later described by a manager as only an estimate.

At a West Midlands Passenger Delivery Committee on November 15, it also emerged that the same model tram had failed in other cities. This led to criticism of bosses for not using trams from different manufacturers to allow services to continue while the carriages were fixed.

Trams did eventually start running again on December 15, more than a month after services were suspended, though once again with a skeleton service between Wolverhampton and Bull Street in Birmingham.

Bosses hoped the full service would be up and running by the end of January, but it wasn't until February 12, more than three months, after services were withdrawn, that the full service running all the way to Birmingham city centre.

March 2022

West Midlands Metro announced on Saturday, March 19, that services were cancelled for the rest of the day due to "operational reasons".

Later that day it was confirmed that Sunday's services were also cancelled.

Hours later, on Sunday morning, the Metro said services were suspended "until further notice", confirming cracks had been found in the bodywork of a number of trams.

Wolverhampton councillor Chris Burden, of the West Midlands Combined Authority's transport delivery committee, said: "I have been informed of what is going on with the trams, and all I can say at this stage is that it's a scandal.

""I will say at this point that it's not serving the people.

"Ultimately it is unacceptable and it's not good for customers and not good for the West Midlands."