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