Picture in Time: Blackpool Western Train & Frigate

Posted on Friday 6 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

Its not really heading back into the archives very far for this edition of “Picture in Time” but it’s a nice photo so any old excuse to show it!

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In Pictures: Consent Coalition advert on NET 202

Posted on Thursday 5 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

We reported last month that as part of a new campaign Nottingham Express Transit 202 had received a new all over advert and now we bring you the proof in photographic form! The first advert carried by this time it is advertising the Consent Coalition campaign which is a group of organisations within Nottingham who are working together to raise awareness of the importance of consent, banish myths about rape and sexual violence and encourage survivors and victims to access support and report any sexual violence.

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In Pictures: West Midlands Metro Brierley Hill extension photo update

Posted on Thursday 5 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

The West Midlands Metro extension from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill is slated for an opening in 2023 which means that construction works are now starting to progress at a pace (considering that 2023 is next year!). In this latest photo update from the extension we take a look around Dudley to see what work is taking place, and this includes the laying of the first sections of new track on the line.

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In Pictures: New notices warn against tram surfing

Posted on Thursday 5 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

It may not be a new phenomenon but tram surfing has again been proving an issue in Manchester and in order to try and combat the problem trams on Metrolink have started to receive new warning notices. The small notices are on both the ends and the nearside front under the drivers window but whether they cause anyone to think twice will remain to be seen.

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In Pictures: May Vintage Weekend in Blackpool

Posted on Wednesday 4 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

The second event weekend of 2022 in Blackpool took place over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend from Saturday 30th April to Monday 2nd May. As we previewed just before the weekend, the Vintage Weekend saw the return of hop-on, hop-off tours on various timetabled journeys between Pleasure Beach and points north whilst there were also bus tours, tours of Rigby Road Depot and evening tours. In this review the photos comes from the first day of the event whilst we also have a quick round-up of which trams made an appearance throughout the rest of the weekend.

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In Pictures: Progress at Picardy Place

Posted on Wednesday 4 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

As we’ve noted many times since construction work on the Trams to Newhaven project got underway in Edinburgh the first new stop on the line will be at Picardy Place. This is a replacement stop for York Place which closed permanently during February and will not only give access to that area of Edinburgh but also prove ideal for the St James Quarter development.

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In Pictures: Aberdeen tram rosettes restored

Posted on Wednesday 4 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

We’ve often mentioned tram rosettes on these pages, with many actually still clinging on to buildings across the UK (and then getting to feature in “Still Standing!”). During the heyday of first generation trams one city which relied heavily on rosettes was Aberdeen as with the granite construct of many buildings they supported the overhead better and recently a set of rosettes which have been rediscovered have been treated to some TLC ahead of going on display at the Bus Collection in Alford next to the Grampian Transport Museum.

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In Pictures: The next tram is for Broadway

Posted on Tuesday 3 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

For a large period of April there have been no Manchester Metrolink service running to Eccles with rail replacement works taking place. Works started on Monday 4th April and initially saw all trams from Ashton-under-Lyne terminating at MediaCityUK with buses operating for the remainder of the route to Eccles, although from Wednesday 27th April trams could run to Broadway but with the spur to MediaCityUK closed. The line reopened in full on Saturday 30th April although this was delayed slightly after a lorry dumped its load on the tracks in Eccles.

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In Pictures: Football specials on Stagecoach Supertram

Posted on Tuesday 3 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

On Saturday 30th April with Sheffield Wednesday having a crucial match in their bid for promotion from League One it was back to the old days on Stagecoach Supertram – with the return of football specials! It may not quite be as it once was but in order to move as many fans to and from the game Supertram ran some specials on the Yellow route between Middlewood and the city centre.

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New Edinburgh Trams validators switched on

Posted on Tuesday 3 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

Passengers travelling on the Edinburgh Trams network using various smartcards can now benefit from newly upgraded on-platform validators which were officially switched on for the first time from Thursday 28th April.

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In Pictures: 3140 arrives in Manchester (and we see 3088’s advert too!)

Posted on Monday 2 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

140 down, seven to go! Manchester Metrolink’s 140th M5000 was delivered to Queens Road Depot on Saturday 30th April (back into its usual slot after the last arrival turned up midweek) with 3140 making the well-trodden trip across from Germany via Hull Docks. But whereas we normally say how things just happened smoothly and it was soon off-loaded, this time it was a little different!

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In Pictures: More tram track uncovered

Posted on Monday 2 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

We’ve seen it many a time before, and will doubtless see it many more times, tram track being uncovered beneath the road surface in various UK towns during roadworks. This time around its Stockport where the past has been rediscovered.

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Out and About: Trams diverted in Manchester

Posted on Monday 2 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

For a week in late March all trams through Manchester City Centre were diverted via 2CC with the original city crossing closed to allow for rail replacement works to take place. In this edition of “Out and About” we take a look at some of the sights seen during these diversions.

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Stop by Stop Blackpool Tramway: London Street

Posted on Sunday 1 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

And so we reach true on-street running as our trip north on the Blackpool Tramway continues.

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In Pictures: Rail replacement works on West Midlands Metro

Posted on Sunday 1 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

With no public tram services still able to run on the West Midlands Metro as repairs to the trams continue at the depot the chance (sensibly) is being taken to undertake maintenance work on the tramway. This has recently included the replacement of rails at Black Lake as shown in this update.

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Work starts on production of bogies for new Metro trains

Posted on Sunday 1 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

Another week and another milestone in the construction of the new trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro. Stadler – who are building 46 new trains – have now started manufacture of the first of 276 sets of bogies (each train will have six) at their factory in Valencia.

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What’s New on British Trams Online? 1st May 2022

Posted on Sunday 1 May 2022 by Gareth Prior

This May Day Bank Holiday Weekend sees us feature photos from home (London Tramlink) and abroad (Prague):

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Full schedule announced for Manx Summer Transport Festival

Posted on Saturday 30 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Its under three months until the Summer Transport Festival takes place on the Isle of Man and the full schedule of events across all the island’s heritage railways and tramways has now been revealed. The Manx Electric Railway will again take centre stage for much of the event but the Steam Railway is not left out with the Groudle Glen Railway and Great Laxey Mines Railway both also due to operate during the five day spectacular.

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Around the World in Trams: Stockholm 521

Posted on Saturday 30 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

We move on with “Around the World in Trams” as for the next few weeks we head to Sweden and the city of Stockholm.

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In Pictures: Latest from the Newhaven terminus

Posted on Saturday 30 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

We return once more to Edinburgh to see what progress there is on the Trams to Newhaven project. This time we are off to Newhaven as we see recent work on installing a scissors crossover just before the terminus and on the road connecting Lindsay Road and Melrose Drive. John Hampton is the photographer.

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