West Midlands Metro: Limited tram service set to resume from 5 June

West Midlands Metro services were cancelled in March after an earlier stoppage in November

Limited tram services are set to resume in the West Midlands next month after further delays in repairing cracks in vehicles.

From Sunday 5 June, trams will run between Wolverhampton St George's and Birmingham Bull Street.

Officials said they were "confident" a fully operational fleet will be ready for the Commonwealth Games in July.

Trams have been disrupted since cracks were found on older vehicles in November.

Services were originally due to return next week after stopping for a second time in March, but officials apologised, saying that was now not possible.

"We of course share passengers' frustrations that the original timescale provided by [manufacturer] CAF to restore a service next week has not been met," a spokesperson for Midland Metro 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."

• What is wrong with West Midlands trams?

Full services had only just resumed in February, after a stoppage which began in November, when the trams ceased operating again in March.

It is hoped at least 12 to 14 trams will run between Wolverhampton and Birmingham from 5 June with services being increased as more vehicles become available, West Midlands Metro said.

The first ones to run will do so without being wrapped in blue vinyl branding around the doors, officials said, so as not to delay the reinstatement of services any further.

West Midlands Metro said it was working with CAF to recruit more engineers to carry out specialist repair work and "with this acceleration we remain very confident that a full service will be in operation in good time ahead of this summer's Commonwealth Games".

"We would once again like to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience the suspension of service has caused," the spokesperson added.