National Express Midland Metro operated the

Midland Metro The West Midlands Metro is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. The network has 33 stops with a total of of track; it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmingham ...

tram system between

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

in England from May 1999 until June 2018. It was a subsidiary of

National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...

, who also owned the local bus company

National Express West Midlands National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is bus operator in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. It is a subsidiary of Mobico Group (formerly National Express Group) and is the largest bus operator in the region, as well as one of ...

. The National Express Midland Metro brand name and logo were not carried on trams and on most publicity, just 'The Metro' branding with the exception of printed timetables.

History

The Midland Metro was built and operated by the Altram consortium owned by

Ansaldo Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. is an Italian power engineering company based in Genoa, Italy. The original parent company, Gio. Ansaldo & C., was founded in 1853, and merged with Finmeccanica in 1993 (now Leonardo S.p.A.). In 2024, the company's share ...

, John Laing and

opening on 30 May 2005. In March 2006 National Express bought out its consortium partners. Midland Metro was specified and financed by the

West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was the Passenger transport executive, public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom from 1969 until 2 ...

. The operating company was previously named Travel Midland Metro in keeping with National Express' previous naming structure for subsidiary companies. National Express operated the concession until 23 June 2018, when it was taken over by

Transport for West Midlands Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus fran ...

and the tram system renamed to

West Midlands Metro The West Midlands Metro is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The network has List of West Midlands Metro tram stops, 33 stops with a total of of track; it currently consists of a single r ...

Fleet

The original fleet consisted of 16

AnsaldoBreda T-69 The West Midlands Metro is a passenger light rail line in the West Midlands conurbation in England, which opened in 1999. Its rolling stock consists of 21 CAF Urbos#CAF Urbos 3, CAF Urbos 3 trams which came into service in 2014/15, replacing the ...

trams. These were replaced by 21 CAF Urbos 3s in 2014/15. Originally trams were intended to carry an off-white with yellow, blue and green stripes livery, but instead carried a purple, yellow, red, green and grey livery. This was replaced by a pink and silver livery in 2007."Damaged Metro tram returns in pink" ''

Rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

'' issue 570 18 July 2007 page 63

References

External links

Midland Metro Official siteNetwork West Midlands Metro Page
{{NEXG West Midlands Metro Mobico Group Transport companies established in 1999 Transport companies disestablished in 2018 Transport in Birmingham, West Midlands Transport in Wolverhampton 1999 establishments in England 2018 disestablishments in England