Promoted by Centro and the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, the £145 million Midland Metro opened in the summer of 1999, it is the first street tramway to run in the West Midlands for over forty years. Funding for the project was gathered from various sources.

The Government gave a £40 million grant and a £40 million approved loan towards the project. £31 million came from a European grant, £17.1 million from the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, £11.4 million from the private consortium ALTRAM (who were chosen to design, construct, operate and maintain the system). £4 million came from Birmingham, Sandwell and Wolverhampton Councils in conjunction with the Black Country Development Corporation, £1 million from Centro and £0.3 million from utility services.

ALTRAM is the consortium currently operating the system, having won a 23 year concession. The ALTRAM team has been responsible for the construction, design and operation of Midland Metro Line 1.

Travel West Midlands was awarded the management contract to operate Line 1 and a separate division, Travel Midland Metro, was specially formed to operate and maintain the new Light Rail System. Travel Midland Metro Head Quarters is based at The Metro Centre in Wednesbury.

John Laing plc, constructors of Birmingham International Airport's Eurohub terminal, were responsible for the construction of the track, stops and buildings. Ansaldo Trasporti, the Italian-based rail and signalling supplier, were responsible for delivering the trams, signalling and communications equipment, overhead line equipment and power supply.