Sheffield 264 returns to service

Posted on Sunday 10 April 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Saturday 9th April 2016 was a historic day at Beamish Museum, not just because of the Great War Steam Fair event – but mainly because it was on this day that Sheffield 264 finally made its long-awaited return to passenger service. The tram had last operated in regular service in 2003, and since then has been extensively rebuilt following on from a lengthy period of storage.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway | 8 Comments

Flexity 009 versus motor car

Posted on Friday 8 April 2016 by Andrew Waddington

On Thursday 7th April, there was considerable disruption for passengers on the Blackpool tramway due to an incident at Rossall Square. Flexity 009 was involved in a collision with a car, which had apparently jumped a red traffic light and been driven onto the tramway crossing and into the path of the oncoming tram. Services were subjected to significant delays whilst the relevant authorities attended and the car was retrieved from its resting place on the tram tracks.

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Seaton 17 goes undercover

Posted on Thursday 7 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

In an unexpected development we can report that the Seaton Tramway is to get a fourth fully enclosed single deck saloon tram. Crossbench 17 is currently in the workshops being converted from its original 1988 condition.

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Posted in Seaton Tramway | 3 Comments

No Access Tram

Posted on Thursday 7 April 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Crich Tramway Village have announced that their ‘Access Tram’, Berlin 223 006-4, is currently unavailable for service and is expected to remain so until approximately 14th April. As the only tram at the museum able to carry visitors in wheelchairs, the Berlin car has a higher availability requirement than the rest of the fleet but presumably is suffering from some sort of defect which cannot be repaired immediately.

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Posted in Crich Tramway Village | 13 Comments

Picture in Time: Snaefell Mountain Railway 3

Posted on Wednesday 6 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

The latest edition of Picture in Time heads back to the Isle of Man for some views of Snaefell Mountain Railway 3 in recent times.

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In Pictures: Tramlink Line 4 starts running to Wimbledon

Posted on Tuesday 5 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

The morning of Monday 4th April saw the start of line 4 services running through to Wimbledon as planned with this southern terminus now enjoying 12 trams an hour (four on Line 4 and the other eight on Line 3 to New Addington). This was the culmination of months and years of work with significant sections of track doubled and the recent project to create a second platform at Wimbledon.

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In Pictures: Loanee trams in action on Blue timetable

Posted on Tuesday 5 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

Sunday 3rd April was another historic day for Blackpool’s Heritage Tram Tours with the first time ever that the two tram Blue timetable was solely in the hands of on loan trams. With sunny skies overhead Marton Box 31 – on loan from Beamish – was chosen to run alongside Railcoach 680 – on loan from the Heaton Park Tramway.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 6 Comments

In Pictures: London Transport 1622 on driver training

Posted on Tuesday 5 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

After its recent unexpected Easter resurrection London Transport 1622 has continued to see some use at the Crich Tramway Village including being used for driver training and familiarisation on Sunday 3rd April. Hazel Quarmby was on scene to catch the tram out and about once again.

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Good news for Snaefell Mountain Railway

Posted on Monday 4 April 2016 by Andrew Waddington

After the shock news of the terrible accident involving Snaefell 3 last week, we are pleased to report that the Snaefell Mountain Railway was able to re-open for business on Saturday 2nd April. This followed a closure lasting a few days following the incident to allow the necessary investigations to proceed undisturbed, after car 3 ran away from the summit terminus before derailing and rolling down a slope.

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Posted in Snaefell Mountain Railway | 6 Comments

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 3 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

We have a couple more Photo Galleries for you this week including one system making a BTO debut for 2016:

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Picture in Time: Midland Metro 07

Posted on Sunday 3 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

It’s a more modern than usual Picture in Time for you today as our archive only goes back two years to January 2014 for a look at Midland Metro – but those two years have seen a major change in the trams running in the West Midlands.

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In Pictures: M5000 3113 arrives in Manchester

Posted on Sunday 3 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

The latest M5000 for Manchester Metrolink has now arrived at Queen’s Road Depot with 3113 being delivered on Saturday 2nd April. As with all other recent deliveries the tram made the familiar trip across the country from Hull having docked at the port arriving at its new home around lunchtime. The arrival of 3113 means there are now just seven more M5000s of the current order to come.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 2 Comments

In Pictures: Manx Electric Railway Ratchet Car 14 restoration

Posted on Friday 1 April 2016 by admin

The project to return one of the Manx Electric Railway’s “Ratchet” cars (so called because they were not fitted with air brakes and relied on the ratchet hand brake system) to service is continuing at Derby Castle Sheds with no. 14’s restoration making progress. The chance to see the latest progress on the restoration was available during shed tours which took place as part of the Rush Hour on the Railways event over the Easter weekend, a chance that David Mee took…

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Tramlink Line 4 extended to Wimbledon from 4th April

Posted on Friday 1 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

The much vaunted increase in London Tramlink services to Wimbledon will be introduced from Monday 4th April with Line 4 extended from Therapia Lane through to Wimbledon. This increase will see 12 trams an hour to Wimbledon instead of the current eight.

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Deal signed for fitting of Urbos 3 batteries

Posted on Friday 1 April 2016 by Gareth Prior

It’s official, Midland Metro’s existing fleet of Urbos 3 trams are to be fitted with batteries following the signing of a contract between Centro and CAF. The groundbreaking – for the UK – deal will see the first tram move to Spain for the fitting of the batteries with the remaining 20 trams being dealt with at Wednesbury Depot.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 10 Comments

Snaefell Mountain Railway no. 3 destroyed after runaway

Posted on Wednesday 30 March 2016 by Gareth Prior

In one of the most serious incidents on any tramway in the British Isles in recent years Snaefell Mountain Railway no. 3 has been destroyed after running away from the Summit and derailing at Bungalow. Fortunately no staff or passengers were on board the tram as it ran away.

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Posted in Snaefell Mountain Railway | 16 Comments

Picture in Time: Blackpool Brush 622

Posted on Wednesday 30 March 2016 by Gareth Prior

The Picture in Time machine ends up in Blackpool again for our latest image with the year being 1974 and the tram Brush Railcoach 622.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Picture in Time | 6 Comments

Marton 31 debuts on Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours **updated with photos**

Posted on Tuesday 29 March 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Three of the established and popular ‘Gold’ running days on the Blackpool tramway were operated by the heritage tram fleet over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. Twelve different trams were used on this service with seven cars rostered to operate on each day; however, the undisputed star of the show was Marton Box 31 which debuted on Easter Sunday and proved to be an instant hit despite some pretty appalling weather conditions!

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 4 Comments

Preston Tram planning application resubmitted

Posted on Tuesday 29 March 2016 by Gareth Prior

Plans for the return of trams to Preston are once again on the table following the recent resubmission of a planning application for the start of the GUILD line with the hope that a final decision will be made at the start of June. As you may recall the plans for the line were rejected by councillors at the end of 2014 with concerns expressed over the effect it would have on the local road network and since then the Preston Trampower team – the developers behind the scheme – have been refining the plans.

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Posted in Preston Trampower | 26 Comments

New fares on the way for Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Tuesday 29 March 2016 by Gareth Prior

Sunday 10th April will see the introduction of new fares for Edinburgh Trams with increase in the cost as well as a new City Zone return ticket. These fare increases are said to be necessary to allow for service improvements with a new timetable due to start before the end of 2016.

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 2 Comments