West Midlands Metro services set to resume next month

West Midlands Metro services were cancelled again in March

Suspended passenger services on the West Midlands Metro are expected to resume at the end of next month, the operator said.

Further cracks were found in the bodywork of trams last month, with the whole fleet taken out of action.

Full services had only resumed in February after a stoppage which began in November, when cracks were found in some vehicles.

Temporary repairs were also required in June.

The suspensions have attracted considerable criticism, with West Midlands Mayor Andy Street taking to Twitter last month to acknowledge the situation was "deeply frustrating" for travellers and adding the manufacturers and operators would be held to account.

In its latest update, Midlands Metro Ltd said it had completed a detailed assessment of the whole fleet.

The manufacturer, CAF, has been asked to replace the faulty panels rather than repair to ensure the "future reliability and robustness of the service," it said.

Works were under way at its Wednesbury depot, it added, and further steps were being taken to secure additional off site workshop facilities.

• What is wrong with West Midlands trams?

"We have also brought in additional engineers from across the UK and overseas that have the necessary skills to carry out these specialist panel replacements," it said.

The operator said it hoped services would resume at the end of May

It added: "Our new tram fleet continues to be tested and will be running through the network to ensure they are ready for when the service recommences."

"Once again, we would like to apologise for the ongoing inconvenience and share the frustration of our customers at this suspension in services."

The service normally operates every 6-8 minutes at peak times between Birmingham Library and Wolverhampton St Georges, travelling through Handsworth, West Bromwich and Wednesbury.

Eight million journeys were made on the network in 2019-20, according to figures from the Department for Transport.

Extra bus services are being brought in for football fans attending the West Bromwich Albion v Stoke City match at the Hawthorns on Saturday.