Midland Metro tram disruption continues after day of travel chaos

Overhead line problems and a signal failure have wreaked havoc for Midland Metro trams and London Midland trains, with the tram network not expected to return to normal until Thursday morning.

An overhead line failure meant no trams operated from around 5.30pm on Tuesday evening, forcing many people to walk along the tracks in West Bromwich, while journeys from Birmingham to Wolverhampton took as long as two hours.

Trams were back running this morning, but remained unable to travel as normal between Black Lake and West Bromwich Central, leaving travellers to walk and take a temporary shuttle service.

Meanwhile a signalling problem meant London Midland Trains between Stafford and Wolverhampton were cancelled throughout Tuesday morning, delaying and cancelling many onward trains to Birmingham and slowing down services in the return direction.

Confusion was increased by the fact that London Midland tickets were being accepted by Midland Metro trams and vice versa, despite the fact neither service was fully functioning.

Midland Metro trams

Passengers travelling from Wolverhampton to Birmingham via tram have had to take a normal tram from Wolverhampton St George's to Black Lake, walk from Black Lake to Dudley Street, board a shuttle service from Dudley Street to West Bromwich Central and then rejoin a normal service from West Bromwich Central to Grand Central, Birmingham.

Passengers heading from Birmingham to Wolverhampton have faced the same complicated journey in reverse.

Although some West Bromwich travellers didn't mind the exercise, others were unimpressed with the situation.

One woman, who did not wish to be named, said: "It is absolutely disgusting (the delays). A lot elderly people are having to make the journey."

And the situation is set to get worse before it improves.

From 10pm on Wednesday, trams from Wolverhampton will terminate at Black Lake to allow repair work to be carried out, with no services running between Black Lake and Grand Central.

Ali Bell from National Express, who operate Midland Metro, said engineers would be trying to fix the problem overnight.

She added: "We are running the service but with a gap in the middle where we have the problem with the overhead line.

"We have got extra staff on and the latest information can be found on our website."

Passengers can travel the whole, or part, of the Wolverhampton-Birmingham journey by bus or train with tram tickets being accepted on both London Midland trains and National Express buses.

However, problems with London Midland trains meant the train was an equally unreliable option with Midland Metro tram tickets not being accepted by other train operators.

Midland Metro apologised for the disruption and said that staff would be on hand at Black Lake, Dudley Street and West Bromwich Central stops to help customers and give timings for shuttle services.

Many frustrated customers took to Twitter to voice their complaints:

London Midland trains

London Midland cancellations added to the chaos, with no trains running from Stafford to Wolverhampton throughout the morning due to a signalling fault.

Many journeys were delayed in both directions on the Liverpool to Birmingham line, disrupting travellers in Stafford, Penkridge, Wolverhampton, Coseley, Smethwick Galton Bridge and Birmingham New Street stations.

The fault was fixed shortly before midday, but London Midland spokesman Francis Thomas said disruption was expected to last until at least 3pm.

He added: "The problem started in the middle of thje night at around 3.30am.

"National Rail realised it had a problem with the signalling at Bushbury. Signal was restored shortly before 11.30am.

"We are expecting disruption to last until at least 3pm while trains are getting back to normal."

London Midland tickets were being accepted on trains run by Virgin, TransPennine Express, Arriva Trains Wales, Cross Country and East Midlands trains.