Douglas Horse Tramway is back!

Posted on Wednesday 11 May 2016 by Gareth Prior

[Apologies for the delay in this story appearing] It was a day that for what appeared to be a very long time earlier in 2016 didn’t look happening but Saturday 30th April saw the return of the Douglas Horse Tramway for its 140th anniversary season. A two tram service was in use on that first day with 44 and 45 the chosen pair.

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Posted in Douglas Bay Horse Tramway | 1 Comment

The end of San Francisco trams in the UK?

Posted on Wednesday 11 May 2016 by Gareth Prior

In the early part of the 21st century two San Francisco Muni trams made the trip across the Atlantic Ocean for a hoped for new life in the UK but that hope now appears extinguished with news reaching us that the last remaining car – 1226 – has now been scrapped in Derby.

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New timetable for Midland Metro from Sunday 22nd May

Posted on Wednesday 11 May 2016 by Gareth Prior

The opening of the full Birmingham City Centre extension to Grand Central (New Street Station) on Sunday 22nd May will see the introduction of a new timetable for Midland Metro with the promise of trams running every 6 minutes during peak times and 8 minutes during the bulk of the day Monday to Friday.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 9 Comments

Another van v tram collision on Metrolink

Posted on Wednesday 11 May 2016 by Gareth Prior

Tuesday 3rd May saw the latest instalment of van v car on Manchester Metrolink when a white van collided with M5000 3076 on Manchester Street, Oldham. It is believed that the van jumped a red light and that the driver of the vehicle fled the scene straight afterwards.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 2 Comments

A day of woe for Metrolink **updated with photos**

Posted on Wednesday 11 May 2016 by Gareth Prior

[Apologies for the delay in this story appearing] Manchester Metrolink had another day of woe on Saturday 30th April with services disrupted by two incidents – just five days after the major suspension of all lines following a systems failure in the Trafford Control Centre.

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Stagecoach Supertram service change: Sunday 22nd May

Posted on Wednesday 11 May 2016 by Gareth Prior

Passengers heading for Herdings Park on Stagecoach Supertram’s Purple route are advised that trams will be terminating at Gleadless Townend from the start of service until 1500 to allow South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue to undertake a training exercise. Purple route trams will continue to run from Meadowhall to Gleadless Towend (via Cathedral) as per the normal Sunday timetable with a replacement bus service continuing through to Herdings Park. Normal services will resume from 1500.

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Nottingham Express Transit service change: Sunday 15th May

Posted on Wednesday 11 May 2016 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit services will run to a split timetable on Sunday 15th May between 0930 and 1130 due to the Asda Foundation 10K run. To enable runners to pass through Old Market Square all services from Hucknall and Phoenix Park will terminate at Royal Centre with those from Toton Lane and Clifton South only running as far as Nottingham Station. Normal Sunday frequencies will operate during this period with a normal service in action before and after the disruption.

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Adverts on the way for Edinburgh?

Posted on Monday 9 May 2016 by Gareth Prior

It’s a story we’ve run before but it does now appear that adverts are set to appear on Edinburgh Trams in the future with JC Decaux starting a campaign to find companies who want to advertise on the 27 strong fleet of trams. A statement has recently been posted on networking site Linkedin starting the race to see just which company will have the historic first advert on a tram in the Scottish capital.

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 3 Comments

May Day Bank Holiday Balloons in Blackpool

Posted on Monday 2 May 2016 by Andrew Waddington

The May Day Bank Holiday weekend in Blackpool saw three more days of intensive heritage tram operation, with six trams scheduled to operate on each day of the long weekend. With a pretty grim weather forecast, the tram output was naturally dominated by enclosed cars with the Balloons out in force, particularly on Monday 2nd May when three green and cream liveried examples were out together, bringing back fond memories of the recent past.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 3 Comments

Picture in Time: Midland Metro 11

Posted on Sunday 1 May 2016 by Gareth Prior

Probably the most popular livery to ever be carried on a Midland Metro tram features in our latest installment of Picture in Time as we take a look at T69 11 whilst it was carrying its Birmingham Corporation inspired colour scheme.

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Posted in Picture in Time, West Midlands Metro | 2 Comments

Balloon 723 re-launched **updated with photos**

Posted on Saturday 30 April 2016 by Andrew Waddington

The latest addition to the Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours operational fleet was unveiled at a special event on Friday 29th April. Although Balloon 723 had returned to use last year, it was only used occasionally due to its shabby external appearance; however, following a complete repaint it is now ready to take on a full-time role as a heritage tram and is expected to see regular use this season for the first time since 2011.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 7 Comments

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Friday 29 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

Your Bank Holiday site update of British Trams Online is now online with another three Photo Galleries included:

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Two more namings in Nottingham

Posted on Friday 29 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

A further two Nottingham Express Transit Citadis trams have received names this week with the two local heroes to be honoured this time being Rebecca Adlington OBE and Doug Scott CBE. The two trams to receive the names are 231 and 225 respectively.

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New live tram information now available for Tramlink passengers

Posted on Friday 29 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

Passengers on London Tramlink are now able to access live service information at the touch of a button following the release of up-to-the-minute data both through TfL’s website and on Electronic Service Update Boards across other parts of the TfL network. As reported a few weeks ago this data is also available for free to app developers and is all part of TfL’s wider commitment to make the information it holds openly available to help Londoners and visitors get around.

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Preserved Brush car 623 returns to service

Posted on Wednesday 27 April 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Preparations for a special event at the Heaton Park Tramway over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend have included commissioning Blackpool Brush car 623 for service. This tram hasn’t operated so far this year and it was feared that it may be destined for a lengthy lay-off after concerns were expressed about the condition of its brake blocks. However, after further assessment it has been passed as fit for limited use and should be used again on 1st and 2nd May.

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Posted in Heaton Park Tramway | 2 Comments

Can you help? Bordeaux trams

Posted on Wednesday 27 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

We have been contacted by Alan Warwick who is going to be visiting Bordeaux in France later this year and wants some more information ahead of his visit. “I wondered if you could provide a link to an enthusiasts site on their tram system. I’m particularly interested in the apparent ‘conduit’ part of the system due to not spoiling the view of the architecture. Do any of your members know if depot visits or system tours or guide books are available.”

Anyone who can help with this query please either leave a comment below or alternatively email us at gareth@britishtramsonline.co.uk.

Posted in General | 6 Comments

Picture in Time: Sheffield 342

Posted on Wednesday 27 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

We have previously featured Beamish’s Sheffield 264 in the “Picture in Time” series when it was actually running as 264 but today we go back a bit further in time to see the tram when it was still under the identity of 342 and was in Gateshead colours.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway, Picture in Time | 2 Comments

Trackwork at Starr Gate

Posted on Wednesday 27 April 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Some maintenance work has been carried out on a set of points at the southern end of the Blackpool tramway on the week commencing Monday 25th April. The points at Starr Gate, used by terminating service trams to cross over onto the northbound line, have been the focus of the work enforcing a slightly different operating procedure for a few days.

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Metrolink services suspended for four hours

Posted on Monday 25 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

Monday 25th April is going to go down as “one of those days” for Manchester Metrolink we would suspect after the entire network was suspended for four hours. This came after a “serious technical issue” at Trafford Depot which led to several safety critical systems going off line.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 29 Comments

In Pictures: Car Rally at Crich

Posted on Monday 25 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

The latest special event at the Crich Tramway Village was another Car Rally with the theme this time being Morgan Three Wheelers and a Midget and Sprite Club Event. And of course alongside the cars was a full tram service as illustrated in these photos by Hazel and Geoff Quarmby.

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