In August 1995, Ansaldo STS, in partnership with Laing Civil Engineering,
was awarded the concession to design, build and operate line 1 of the Midland
Metro for 20 years.Subsequently, West Midlands Travel Limited (a bus operator
in Birmingham) also became part of the consortium.
The project was awarded as a build, operate and transfer (BOT) concession,
requiring the building company to assume a considerable portion of risk in
return for a substantial share of the profits, the size of which depend on
efficient management, quality of service and reliability of the trains and
equipment.
The Birmingham line 1 was the first metro system in the West Midlands.Built at
street level, it covers a distance of 20.8 km of double track; around 18 km of
this belongs to the railway and uses a disused railway line.The other 2 km runs
along the streets, and uses a traffic light system that gives priority to the
metro at level crossings.
There are 23 stations along this stretch of track.
The metro is equipped with 16 low-floor vehicles with on-board drivers.The
trains are 24 metres in length, carry up to 220 passengers, including 55
seated, and have a maximum speed of 70 km per hour.
The system operates at 750V, fed via an overhead contact line, situated up to a
height of 5.6m above the rail head (in the street section).There are six
sub-stations plus one for the depot.
Information to passengers on board and at stations is provided via a
centralised communications system.Every station is equipped with CCTV
monitoring and an alarm system that cannot be activated by passengers.
The entire line is operated from a central post with the following command and
control systems:
- traffic control system
- SCADA traction sub-stations
- integrated telecommunications system (radio, CCTV, telephone, public
announcements, etc.)
Midland Metro Line 1 became operational on 31 May 1999.
