Metro hit by cable thefts three times in a week

Posted on Wednesday 11 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

2023 hasn’t got underway to a great start for the Tyne and Wear Metro with the line between Monkseaton and Wallsend suspended three times in a week – all down to cable theft on this section. The cable theft obviously required emergency repairs on each occasion which meant services had to be suspending leading to disruption for any would be passengers.

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In Pictures: Work continues on West Midlands Metro Wolverhampton extension

Posted on Tuesday 10 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Its one of three tram extensions that should/could/might open in 2023, the West Midlands Metro extension to Wolverhampton Railway Station. Much delayed (it should have opened in 2020) in the run-up to Christmas more work took place and now there seems to be just a few pieces of infrastructure to be completed. However, what’s not know is whether the issues with the signals (and the delay in receiving the relevant equipment) have yet been solved as this is not immediately apparent to the untrained eye.

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Busking returns to the Tyne and Wear Metro

Posted on Tuesday 10 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Here at British Trams Online we always seek to bring you the really important news stories… The latest from the Tyne and Wear Metro is the return of buskers to the three dedicated pitches in the city centre – for the first time since before Covid started. Nexus have decided that its now safe for buskers to return and the first performer has already done a session with bookings now open for further acts to start entertaining commuters once more.

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In Pictures: Revised Edinburgh Trams service for Hogmanay

Posted on Monday 9 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

For the first time since 2019, Edinburgh was able to hold its world famous Hogmanay celebrations which meant that once again West End was used as a temporary terminus for trams from the Airport with Princes Street itself closed. Whilst West End has been no stranger to being a terminus during 2022 (whilst York Place stop was demolished it was in use for this purpose earlier in the year) this still allowed for some unusual shots of the trams using the crossover in service.

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Passenger numbers continue to go up on Metrolink

Posted on Monday 9 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

90% of pre-pandemic passenger numbers were carried on Manchester Metrolink in the lead up to Christmas 2022 according to the latest TfGM Committee report released ahead of their next meeting on Friday 13th January 2023. This has continued a trend over recent months for an increase in patronage on the network which has seen some capacity issues during peak periods.

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Out and About: Beighton Drakehouse Lane, Stagecoach Supertram – December 2022

Posted on Monday 9 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Today’s “Out and About” is again in Sheffield as we take a look at some trams running at Beighton Drakehouse Lane on the Blue route out to Halfway.

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The Number 20: Geneva 875

Posted on Sunday 8 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

We did say never say never to this series returning in the future – although even we didn’t expect it to be back this quick! With a number of you seeming to enjoy working out how we can get to “The Number 20” it returns for the next few weeks as we take a look at a few more trams – and we even start to go overseas in this edition.

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In Pictures: Llandudno & Colwyn Bay 7 on Parade

Posted on Sunday 8 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Before Christmas we mentioned the return of Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway 7 to the North Wales streets where trams used to run regularly until the system closed in 1956. The tram had not been seen out since before the pandemic as the Matador lorry which hauls it around (owing to the lack of tracks or overhead in the area now!) needed maintenance but with this work completed it was possible for the tram to again be part of the Llandudno Christmas Parade which took place on Saturday 3rd December.

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What’s New on British Trams Online? 8th January 2023

Posted on Sunday 8 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Its into the archives for our photos this week as we take a look at some of the construction works during the Nottingham Express Transit Phase 2 extensions:

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Tram of the Year 2022 winners announced!

Posted on Sunday 8 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

The winners of the British Trams Online Tram of the Year 2022 contest can today be revealed – and its been a good year for the East Anglia Transport Museum who go home with two of the four awards! They received the most votes as both “Tramway of the Year” and Blackpool Standard 159 was the most popular nominee for “Tram (Traditional) of the Year”. The Blackpool Tramway also had a good year in the contest with the Jubilee Tram Parade winning “Event of the Year” and Blackpool Flexity2 011 being named “Tram (Modern) of the Year”.

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In Pictures: Another year gets underway at Beamish

Posted on Saturday 7 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

With Beamish remaining open all year round (albeit its winter offering sees more limited opening hours) its always a good place to see the “first heritage trams” of the year and in these first visits on British Trams Online for 2023 we see the two trams which have run in service so far this year – Sunderland 16 and Sheffield 264 (hardly surprising choices for January which doesn’t exactly lend itself to open top tram rides in northeast England!). In this article we also look inside the depot to see the ongoing progress on the restoration of Gateshead 10. Trevor Hall is our photographer.

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Around the World in Trams: Timisoara 3457

Posted on Saturday 7 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Its been a brief visit to Timisoara but here we go with a second and final tram to be featured in “Around the World in Trams”.

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No fare increase for West Midlands Metro this January

Posted on Saturday 7 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

West Midlands Metro have announced that their fares will not be increasing this January as they try to play their part in supporting customers through the cost of living crisis. This follows on from the introduction of the new zonal fare system last year which had already helped some people to save money when travelling on the trams.

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Nexus open applications for the next batch of apprenticeships

Posted on Saturday 7 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Nexus have now opened applications for their 2023 batch of apprentices with nine roles up for grabs as the organisation look to maintain their strong track record of apprentice recruitment.

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In Pictures: Track continues to go down on Eastside extension

Posted on Friday 6 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

There are currently three West Midlands Metro extensions being worked on with a view to them opening in the next few years. Expected to be the first up and running is that to Wolverhampton Railway Station (“Spring 2023”) with that to Dudley due to follow in 2024, the third doesn’t have an opening date (as its tied into HS2 works at Curzon Street) and is the Birmingham Eastside line which runs from Bull Street to High Street Deritend. Its that third extension that we take a look at recent progress in this pictorial article. Photos from Tim Walton.

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Hop-on Hop-off tours back in Blackpool for 2023 event weekends

Posted on Friday 6 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Get your 2023 diaries out! Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours have been quick off the mark with first details of their events for the next year with the confirmation of five event weekends and a further day in July for Fleetwood Tram Sunday which will see the return of hop-on hop-off tours along the length of the tramway. And the first is barely six weeks away!

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Picture in Time: South Yorkshire Supertram 01

Posted on Friday 6 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Its been quite some time since we went into the modern tram archives as part of “Picture in Time” so we remedy that today as we start to take a look at a series of images taken in 1995 on the South Yorkshire Supertram system.

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In Pictures: Another Edinburgh Trams advert

Posted on Thursday 5 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

Not previously reported on British Trams Online was the application of another new advert on a tram in Edinburgh in the lead-up to Christmas. The tram to receive the advert was 267 which received vinyls for Christmas shopping and dining at St James Quarter.

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In Pictures: The NET Reindeer names all in one article

Posted on Thursday 5 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

This is the story of one man’s task to try and get photos of all the reindeer names carried on Nottingham Express Transit in December 2022/January 2023 – a task which wasn’t as easy as it sounds! As we reported earlier this week nine of the Citadis trams had received names to add to the Christmas spirit in the city and here thanks to John Whittingham we feature each one of them in photographic form.

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Scottish government asked to look again at funding free travel on Edinburgh’s Trams

Posted on Thursday 5 January 2023 by Gareth Prior

When the Scottish government decided to fund free travel on buses in Scotland for both under 22s and over 60s the package didn’t extend to the Edinburgh Trams system. As a result the City of Edinburgh Council decided to fund this themselves but with pressures on council budgets there was a recommendation in 2022 that this ended (although the recommendation has not, at this stage, been accepted). Now, with this debate continuing Lothian MSP Miles Briggs has called on the Scottish government to change their stance and include the trams going forward.

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