LET IT SNOW! UK HIT BY HEAVY SNOW AS TRAMLINK GRINDS TO A HALT Much of the United Kingdom was hit by heavy snow in the week commencing Monday 2nd February. Snow fell on tram systems in Birmingham, Croydon, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield and for the majority services were not affected, however, in Croydon the story was different.
Trams on the London Tramlink system did not run at all for most of Monday 2nd February with a limited service starting between Wimbledon and Wandle Park late on the day. The reason given for the service suspension was the tracks were “frozen solid with ice and snow”. Services started to get back on the other routes over the following 24 hours with Wednesday 4th February seeing full services resume.
Although London was severely hit by the snow there were no reports that the Docklands Light Railway suffered any significant disruption at all during the week. The same was true for Birmingham’s Midland Metro, Manchester Metrolink and Nottingham Express Transit.
In Sheffield the trams were able to run normally but delays were still experienced because of other road traffic getting in the way. It got so bad that bosses at South Yorkshire Supertram had to make an appeal for drivers to stay out of any junctions.
A spokesman from Stagecoach said: “Trams have 16-wheel drive and can cope with any amount of snow. If we had the roads to ourselves we could always run a full service. But there are ways motorists can help by thinking outside the box and leaving junctions clear. If drivers can steer clear of them and makes sure they are not blocking tracks, it all helps. All routes were served on Monday night, but with serious delays. We had to turn some trams heading for Halfway back at Sheffield station, otherwise they could all have been stuck. "
Source: Croydon Guardian, Transport for London & Sheffield Star
General – Sunday 8th February 2009
Three shots of trams in the snow in Sheffield. Firstly, 104 is on a Yellow Line service to Middlewood in High Street.
101 is a Blue Route service for Halfway in White Lane.
And 124 and 118 pass in Hillsborough.
All Photos: Stuart Cooke