Still no date set for West Midlands Metro tram system's reopening

The provider previously announced that trams would run from the week of Sunday, June 5, but confirmed on Monday that there is still no set date.

West Midlands Metro posted on Twitter: "Customer information.

"There are no services in operation today, our service will resume during this week.

"We will announce an update as soon as we have a date confirmed."

The service was suspended on March 19 after cracks were discovered in the bodywork – the third time in the space of nine months – which sparked fury from people in the region.

The issue first reared its head on June 11 last year when all 21 trams were suddenly withdrawn due to cracks in the under-frame structure of the vehicles.

Four days later and a reduced service was started after inspections were completed and the affected trams were repaired, with many thinking the issue was sorted.

However, five months later almost to the day, all of the West Midlands Metro trams were pulled when more cracks were found again – requiring more repairs.

And this time the closure was much longer, initially announced as being for at least four weeks, with Metro chiefs coming under fire in the run-up to Christmas – with services starting up again on December 15, but only between Wolverhampton St George's and Bull Street in Birmingham.

Bosses had hoped the full service would be up and running by the end of January, but it wasn't until February 12, more than three months after services were withdrawn, that the full service running all the way to Birmingham city centre.

And then a month later – on March 19 – the vehicles were pulled again due to "operational reasons" with chiefs later confirming cracks had been found in the bodywork of a number of trams – and setting a target of the end of May for when the trams would return.