The tram was developed by technology champion West Midlands 5G as part of a regional transport trial in partnership with West Midlands Metro, Transport for West Midlands and technology companies GoMedia and Icomera.

The increased bandwidth of 5G allows for high quality CCTV footage as well as vehicle performance and maintenance data to be transferred to the West Midlands’ regional transport control centre while vehicles are in operation. Currently this data is accessed and downloaded manually outside of operating times.

This promises to improve security on board West Midlands trams and – in light of Covid-19 – will allow operators to monitor vehicle capacity to help minimise crowding, as well as better tailoring services to real time passenger demand.

If deployed across the network, it is also claimed that 5G connected trams could use on board sensors to help engineers remotely identify issues in carriages and across infrastructure, predicting and responding to faults before they occur. The 5G connectivity can also offer passengers live travel updates and streamed entertainment.

“Our 5G connected tram is a great showcase for what the future of connected transport could look like across both the West Midlands and beyond,” said West Midlands 5G programme director of transport Chris Holmes.

West Midlands Metro head of business transformation Sophie Allison added: “This collaboration has enabled us to use the advances in 5G technology to monitor the tram network in real time.

“As well as unlocking the potential for a host of initiatives to enhance the customer experience, we now have the proven ability to transmit CCTV footage to our operational control centre and the regional traffic control centre quickly, reliably and securely – helping to improve passenger safety.”

(Photograph: West Midlands Metro)