UKTram to continue working with government’s on support for light rail in UK

Posted on Wednesday 3 March 2021 by Gareth Prior

UKTram – who bring together all UK tram and light rail systems to give a “single voice” when dealing with governments and statutory bodies – have pledged to continue working in partnership with the UK and Scottish Governments to secure additional support for systems as there starts to be a cautious lifting of Coronavirus restrictions over the comes months.

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Still Standing! Derby Rosette

Posted on Wednesday 3 March 2021 by Gareth Prior

As we continue this series where we take a look at surviving structures and artefacts from the UK’s first generation tramways we are in the East Midlands where we look up again and find another rosette.

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Tanfield Railway given boost by Metro depot redevelopment

Posted on Tuesday 2 March 2021 by Gareth Prior

The Tanfield Railway – which runs from Sunniside, Gateshead to East Tanfield, County Durham – is to benefit from the redevelopment of the Tyne and Wear Metro depot at Gosforth with more than 20 tons of used track equipment being donated by Nexus.

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Trams &: Sheffield 264 & Fire Engine

Posted on Tuesday 2 March 2021 by Gareth Prior

“Trams &” is today heading to northeast England and Beamish where we see the resplendent Sheffield 264 at the entrance along with a fire engine.

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Whatever Happened To? Midland Metro 16

Posted on Tuesday 2 March 2021 by Gareth Prior

And after 16 weeks we finally reach the last of the original Midland Metro trams as this latest series of “Whatever Happened To?” comes to and end with no. 16.

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Crich announce plans to reopen for 2021 season

Posted on Monday 1 March 2021 by Gareth Prior

Following on from last week’s government announcement on the “roadmap” to relaxing restrictions there has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes at various heritage tramways to get ready for the belated opening this year. The first tramway to publicly announce their plans is the Crich Tramway Village which will have limited opening from Monday 12th April (the week after Easter).

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Major disruption for Metrolink after Police incident at St Peter’s Square

Posted on Monday 1 March 2021 by Gareth Prior

All Manchester Metrolink services running through St Peter’s Square (the vast majority of service do of course) were seriously disrupted from the evening of Saturday 27th February until late morning on Sunday 28th February after a major Police incident. According to reports in the press the incident involved two cars and gun fire although fortunately there were no injuries reported.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Dreadnought 59

Posted on Monday 1 March 2021 by Gareth Prior

We return to 1976 for the next few editions of our Blackpool based “Picture in Time” series and we start off by taking a look at a tram which is always a popular one with enthusiasts – Dreadnought 59.

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Trams in Video: Manchester Metrolink 2008-2012

Posted on Sunday 28 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

Today we are off to Manchester for footage of the Metrolink system, mainly taken between 2008 and 2012 plus some extra archive film from 2001. All three classes of tram which ran on Metrolink in this period are featured including the T68s, T68As and M5000s. Lines in the city centre and out to Altrincham, Bury, Eccles, St Werburgh’s Road and Oldham are all seen.

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Calls made to Government for continued transport support

Posted on Sunday 28 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

Local politicians in the north-east have joined other leaders of City Regions across England in writing to the Government asking for a commitment to extra support for transport – including the Tyne and Wear Metro. As things stand at the moment funding support for the Metro is only in place until 5th April and local leaders are calling for this to be extended as the uncertainty of the Covid restrictions and the gentle easing which will eventually follow means passenger numbers are unlikely to return to anything approaching normal for some time.

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Lockdown Walks: Blackpool Balloon 700

Posted on Sunday 28 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

In this edition of “Lockdown Walks” we take a rare look at a more heritage tram as we find ourselves in Blackpool.

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What’s New on British Trams Online? 28th February 2021

Posted on Sunday 28 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

There is a double helping of photos this week as we head back in time to 2003 and 2004 on the Isle of Man as well as taking another look at the current trackworks in Blackpool:

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Livery changes in Manchester and West Midlands Metro

Posted on Saturday 27 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

The past few weeks and months have seen a few livery changes on both Manchester Metrolink and West Midlands Metro which we haven’t reported on so let’s remedy that in this article!

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Around the World in Trams: Den Haag 3065

Posted on Saturday 27 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

“Around the World in Trams” continues today as we are again off to The Netherlands.

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World Cup of Trams launched!

Posted on Saturday 27 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

Have you wondered what the best tram stop on a UK tramway is? Or maybe the best livery? What about the most picturesque tram stop? And then there’s the best tram of all? Well, if you have the World Cup of Trams is the competition for you!  With voting starting on a dedicated Twitter account from next week, this light hearted competition will see the UK’s tram and light rail system going against each other throughout March to see which one comes out on top.

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Lockdown Walks: Edinburgh Trams 262

Posted on Saturday 27 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

In this “Lockdown Walks” we head back to the Scottish capital once more as we have another view in the city centre.

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Work starts on redevelopment of South Gosforth Depot

Posted on Friday 26 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

Work has started on the £70 million development of South Gosforth Depot on the Tyne and Wear Metro with contractors have started to remove large sections of track and overhead line.

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In Pictures: Trams return to Starr Gate!

Posted on Friday 26 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

No sooner had it been announced that due to the overrunning of the engineering works in Blackpool trams would continue to run between Harrow Place and Cabin for an extra seven days, then trams returned to Starr Gate earlier than originally planned let alone the revised plan!

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Picture in Time: Gateshead 10

Posted on Friday 26 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

We are again taking a look at Beamish’s Tramway for this edition of “Picture in Time”.

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In Pictures: Cabin continues to be northern terminus as Blackpool Tramway works extended

Posted on Thursday 25 February 2021 by Gareth Prior

The essential trackworks which have been underway on the Blackpool Tramway since Sunday 14th February will be carrying on for longer than planned due to a “delay in the works”. Normal services will now not resume until Sunday 7th March – one week later than originally planned. As a result the revised service between Harrow Place and Cabin only will continue to run for an additional seven days (it was originally only due to run until Saturday 27th February).

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