City Centre Extension - Sapporo

Sapporo in northern Japan has a tram service that was extended by approximately 450 metres on 19 December 2015, thus completing a loop of 8.41 kilometres for the overall network.  This tram service has good links with underground subway services within the city, but this subway also eliminated the need for larger parts of the tram network, which were closed from 1958.  

The trams need to contend with very cold and snowy weather conditions, as Sapporo was a former host city of the 1972 Winter Olympics.

Flickr photos of Sapporo Streetcars:

Midland Metro Birmingham UK

The tramway in Birmingham was extended into the city centre recently, signalling a return of trams into the city for the first time in over 50 years.   The tramway extension will hopefully improve connectivity to other parts of Birmingham and the economics of this tramway which has required subsidies since its inception.  For example, ridership on Midlands Metro fell by 6.1% in the 2014-15 year.

Flickr photo links for the new extension:

The tramway opened in 1999 and the small extension into the city centre is the beginning of further extensions that are scheduled to be completed up to 2023.  The majority of 20km long tramway operates on a former railway line that ran between the cities of Wolverhampton and Birmingham.  The railway was closed in 1972 and 11 out of the 23 tram stops are in the same location as the previous railway.

Flickr Photo links of the old railway from 1972 and 1960:

And today:

Links:
Midland Metro Website