Trams to run between Birmingham and Wolverhampton from June

Tram services are set to resume between Wolverhampton and Birmingham in June.

Bosses at West Midlands Metro said last month that services would resume in May.

They now say the transport service will resume during the bank holiday weekend, on Sunday (June 5), running between Wolverhampton St George’s and Birmingham Bull Street.

The operator also said a full service is expected to be in operation in good time ahead of this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

A spokesperson from West Midlands Metro said: "This return to service has been enabled by the replacement of tram body panels progressing to schedule.

"We are now looking to accelerate repairs to get more trams back out on our network as quickly and safely as possible to restore a full service."

They say they are working with CAF, the manufacturer, to recruit more engineers to carry out the specialist repair work as well as moving trams off-site to a third-party facility for repairs.

They added that they "share passengers’ frustrations" that the original timescale for the resumption of services had not been met.

They said: "Despite assurances that enough trams would be available, they have now informed us that this is now not possible until the following week due to further snagging work required before the trams meet the quality standards required for acceptance into service.

 "So as not to delay the reinstatement of service any further than absolutely necessary, once this essential snagging work has been carried out some trams will be running without being fully wrapped in blue vinyl branding around the doors."

"This will not impact their safety or performance."

They apologised for the delays and thanked customers for their patience.