DLR temporarily reduce capacity on Tower Gateway to Beckton service

Posted on Saturday 10 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

Passengers who travel on the Docklands Light Railway between Tower Gateway and Beckton have been warned that for the next 2-3 months there will be reduced capacity on the line because of “a vital piece of machinery specific to maintaining DLR trains recently required major refurbishment”.

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Edinburgh Trams extension survey released as public consultation gets ready

Posted on Friday 9 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

It has been a busy few days for the proposed extension of Edinburgh Trams from the current York Place terminus to Newhaven via Leith Walk with the results of an independent survey released – which has given predictably mixed results about the popularity of the plan – whilst the City of Edinburgh Council has announced details of a public consultation to help shape plans for the line – if it is approved by Councillors later this year.

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Purple route back to normal

Posted on Friday 9 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

Following the temporary suspension of evening services to Herdings Park after an assault on a staff member Stagecoach Supertram resumed a normal service from Thursday 8th March. This came after a full review of staff safety on board the trams.

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Report released into Metrolink overhead problems with monthly performance reports to come

Posted on Thursday 8 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

The major disruption which occurred on Manchester Metrolink during the afternoon and evening of Monday 19th February – and for the Bury line into the following day – was caused by a damaged pantograph on one tram which in turn damaged the overhead at Bury, damaging further pantographs which then damaged the overhead elsewhere on the network according to a report released on the incident. Three different areas were damaged, at Bury and two separate locations at Deansgate-Castlefield, severely disrupting the network throughout the evening rush hour.

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Picture in Time: London County Council 106

Posted on Thursday 8 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

We return to Crich for this edition of Picture in Time for a photo taken back in 1989 of London County Council 106.

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Derby Castle welcomes more horse cars for maintenance

Posted on Wednesday 7 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

There was a time not too long ago that the movement of a horse car to the Manx Electric Railway’s Derby Castle workshops would have been a major story but now it is becoming more and more normal – in fact there are now so many there it is currently home to the third highest number of horse cars in the British Isles! Since we last reported on this two Winter Saloons have made the trip to Derby Castle – 1 and 27.

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More trackwork on the way for Tramlink at Easter

Posted on Wednesday 7 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

Services on London Tramlink through the town centre will be disrupted over the school Easter holiday period with further track replacement work to take place. Track is due to be replaced between George Street and Church Street and from the junction of Cherry Orchard Road to Addiscombe Road. Work will be taking place between Friday 30th March and Sunday 8th April with a two stage closure.

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In Pictures: Blackpool’s newest trams enter service

Posted on Tuesday 6 March 2018 by Andrew Waddington

On Sunday 4th March 2018, Blackpool’s two newest trams – Flexity2 class trams 017 and 018 – both entered public service for the first time. Both were delivered to Starr Gate depot in December and have since undergone extensive testing, as well as having the colour of their doors changed from grey to black, to match their older sisters!

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Purple route changes in Sheffield after staff assault

Posted on Tuesday 6 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

Late evening services on Stagecoach Supertram services to Herdings Park have been suspended after a member of staff was assaulted in the evening of Friday 2nd March. Whilst Supertram assist the Police with the incident and with a full review into how staff are kept safe on board the trams being undertaken the decision has been taken to temporarily remove the service from approximately 2000 each evening.

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Luas resumes a full service

Posted on Tuesday 6 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

After the heavy snow suffered as a result of Storm Emma services on Dublin’s Luas tram network have finally resumed a full service on both the Green and Red lines. When we last took a look at services running there was a limited Red line service with no trams on the Green line but during Sunday 4th March the situation started to improve further.

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Electrical fire causes Eccles line suspension

Posted on Tuesday 6 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

Services to MediaCityUK and Eccles were suspended for approximately four hours on Tuesday 6th March after a fire in underground cables at Anchorage stop. The fire was reported at approximately 0900 with all services on the Eccles line immediately suspended, those trams running from Ashton-under-Lyne were terminated at Deansgate-Castlefield during the disruption.

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Around the World in Trams: Oranjestad Streetcar, Aruba

Posted on Tuesday 6 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

An usual tramway is featured in this series today as we head to the only tramway in the Caribbean on the Dutch island of Aruba which features hydrogen cell technology.

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Website downtime & continuing issues **Update 6th March 2018**

Posted on Monday 5 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

British Trams Online is now more or less back to where we were on Sunday evening. 123 Reg – our hosting company – have now confirmed that the problem was a “hardware failure” which caused lots of websites to be taken offline. They were able to restore the website back to the state it was in early August 2017 with anything since then our responsibility to get back online (as apparently they don’t have a back-up server with the information contained since that date). All areas of this website excluding these news pages should now be back but if you notice any ommisions please let us know and we will endeavour to add them back to the site. Unfortunately because of the nature of the news pages which are based on an external Word Press blog we are unable to easily restore a previous version. Although all the news is back online the photos which accompany all stories from around 3rd August 2017 until the weekend are not available. We will try and re-add some of the photos as and when (for some of the stories it is more vital than others as the Picture in Time series for one is rather pointless without the photo) although this is likely to take some time – if you have any particular story you would like to see the photos on please let us know and we will try and prioritise those. Sorry for the disruption in our service to you and thanks for bearing with us whilst we work through these problems.

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30,000 carried on Edinburgh Trams during major snow disruption

Posted on Sunday 4 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

Just how crucial Edinburgh Trams has become to the public transport offering in the Scottish capital has been laid bare during the so-called “Beast from the East” with over 30,000 passenger journeys recorded over just a three day period. After running throughout the worst of the snow with a reduced service a full service was able to resume from the start of Saturday 3rd March thanks to staff working through the night to help clear tracks and platforms of snow.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 4 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

Snow is the theme of this week’s main site update as we feature two new Photo Galleries of trams running in the white stuff:

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Trams return in Dublin – but still not a full service

Posted on Saturday 3 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

The effects of Storm Emma are still being felt in Dublin with a third day of interrupted services on Saturday 3rd March although at least some trams are now running on the Red line.

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Picture in Time: Nottingham Express Transit 210

Posted on Saturday 3 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

It’s a fairly recent image for today’s Picture in Time as we feature a view of Nottingham Express Transit 210 in 2013.

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Tram and car in collision in Nottingham

Posted on Saturday 3 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

A tram and a car collided in Wilford on Tuesday 27th February causing delays to services on Nottingham Express Transit. The collision happened close to the Wilford Toll Bridge at approximately 1500. No injuries were reported with the tram removed at 1630 and the car around 15 minutes later. During the disruption trams were unable to run between Queen’s Walk and Wilford Village.

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In Pictures: Midland Metro 18 breaks daylight cover for first time

Posted on Friday 2 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

Having arrived back in the UK from its battery fitting on 22nd September Midland Metro Urbos3 18 now seems to have started daylight testing and driver training ahead of an eventual entry into service; when it does it will be the first battery operated tram to run in service in the UK. Its first appearance this week saw it conveying a group of local councillors on a battery operated trip and it has also been shunting around the depot as preparations for its entry into service continue.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 4 Comments

Luas to make decision on weekend services on Saturday morning

Posted on Friday 2 March 2018 by Gareth Prior

The snowy and windy weather conditions are still affecting the British Isles with Luas still the worst affected tramway with no services still able to run on the entire network. It has now been confirmed that the shutdown will continue into the morning of Saturday 3rd March although there is a light at the end of the tunnel beyond that.

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