Balloon cars on standby for snow

Posted on Tuesday 12 January 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Not previously reported on British Trams Online is the temporary addition of snowploughs to two members of the Blackpool heritage tram fleet – Balloon cars 701 and 723. With a lack of other suitable candidates for the role this duo have been the plough cars since the tramway upgrade and this is now the fourth consecutive winter as snowplough cars.

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Extra portions of fish, chips and trams

Posted on Monday 11 January 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Following the success of the inaugural ‘Great British Night Out’ event held in 2015, Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours will be teaming up with world famous fish restaurant chain Harry Ramsden’s on several occasions this year for further joint ventures. At least nine such events will be held during 2015 offering numerous opportunities to enjoy a traditional British meal on board an equally traditional British-built tramcar.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 3 Comments

End of the line for Grimsby & Immingham 26

Posted on Monday 11 January 2016 by Andrew Waddington

As we look forward to the imminent return to service of Sheffield 264 at Beamish Museum, Grimsby & Immingham 26 has now been temporarily withdrawn from service for a much-delayed overhaul. This will see the tram restored to its more familiar guise as Gateshead 10 in maroon and cream livery, replacing the dark green garb it has worn since summer 2012.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway | 9 Comments

A busy winter of work for Heaton Park

Posted on Friday 8 January 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Volunteers at the Heaton Park Tramway are being kept very busy this winter, with a number of trams requiring varying levels of workshop attention. Following the major work on Hull 96 which is currently the main service car, attention has been turned towards the rest of the operating fleet which have been left looking a bit sorry for themselves, particularly when compared to the immaculate Hull car!

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Posted in Heaton Park Tramway | 7 Comments

A Christmas gift for Amsterdam 474

Posted on Friday 8 January 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Over a year has now passed since Amsterdam 474 last turned a wheel in passenger service at the East Anglia Transport Museum. The single-deck tram is currently stored awaiting workshop attention, most notably repairs to a motor defect. However, help is now at hand thanks to the generosity of the Irish National Transport Museum who have recently donated some tramcar parts which will hopefully help to get 474 back on the road.

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Posted in East Anglia Transport Museum | 2 Comments

Heritage hires end 2015 and begin 2016!

Posted on Friday 8 January 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Winter is shaping up to be a fairly eventful time on the Blackpool tramway with a number of appearances by members of the heritage fleet. Since the last of the Santa Specials operated in December, the trams have continued to make occasional appearances with the last such outing of 2015 being for the Fylde Tramway Society’s annual Christmas tram tour on Bank Holiday Monday 28th December.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 1 Comment

Tram Train engineering work to start

Posted on Wednesday 6 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

Essential engineering works on the Stagecoach Supertram network to fully prepare the tramlines for the Tram Train vehicles is set to take place over several weekends in January and February which will see further disruption to tram services. Until these works are completed the first of the Tram Trains – which arrived in Sheffield at the end of November – will be confined to the Nunnery Square Depot.

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Posted in South Yorkshire Supertram | 16 Comments

Half price travel on NET in January

Posted on Wednesday 6 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

Passengers will be able to enjoy half price travel on all four remaining Sundays in January with adult day tickets available for just £2 (instead of the usual £4). The tickets can be purchased as normal through the on platform ticket machines and the 5 for £5 Group Ticket will also be available. The special offer will be available on Sundays 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st January.

Posted in Nottingham Express Transit | 1 Comment

Picture in Time: Blackpool OMO 3

Posted on Wednesday 6 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

Our first foray into the archives in 2015 takes us back Blackpool for a view of OMO 3 with this Picture in Time being captured in June 1973.

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Picture in Time: Manchester Metrolink 1012

Posted on Thursday 24 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Our final Picture in Time image for 2015 heads back to Manchester Metrolink one last time for a view of T68 1012.

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Posted on Wednesday 23 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

So here we are again, at the end of another year – just where does the time all go? With British Trams Online taking our traditional Christmas break (we will be back in early January) this will be the last update of 2015 (with the exception of one more Picture in Time upload on Christmas Eve morning) which makes it a good time to take a brief look back at the past 12 months and what we might expect in 2016.

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Posted in Site News | 2 Comments

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Wednesday 23 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Our final main site update for 2015 is now uploaded and includes two new Photo Galleries:

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Brush 636

Posted on Wednesday 23 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Today’s Picture in Time is a tram we have featured before but this time our view of Blackpool Brush 636 is from an earlier period in the trams history – 1974.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Picture in Time | 5 Comments

Christmas and New Year Services 2015-2016

Posted on Tuesday 22 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Once again we bring you a round-up of the services being operated across all tram and light rail networks in the British Isles over the Christmas and New Year period. From Edinburgh in the north to Croydon in the south and from Dublin in the west to Nottingham in the east this is a complete guide to where and when you can enjoy trams over the festive period if being with the family gets just a little bit too much…

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Docklands Light Railway, Dublin Luas, Edinburgh Trams, London Trams, Manchester Metrolink, Nottingham Express Transit, South Yorkshire Supertram, West Midlands Metro | 1 Comment

New General Manager for Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Tuesday 22 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Lea Harrison has been announced as the new General Manager from Edinburgh Trams replacing Tom Norris who left the position earlier this year. Mr Harrison is one of three appointments to senior transport roles in Edinburgh with George Lowder MBE named new Transport for Edinburgh Chief Executive and Richard Hall the new Managing Director at Lothian Buses.

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Picture in Time: Lisbon 361 and 730

Posted on Tuesday 22 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Today Picture in Time goes continental! Obviously this website is British Trams Online so we concentrate on trams which are either British or have spent some of their life in the British Isles so the two trams we feature today can now be found in the country although at the time of these photos, taken in 1992, they were firmly still in their home city of Lisbon.

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Posted in Birkenhead Heritage Tramway, Black Country Living Museum, Picture in Time | 3 Comments

34 enters service and 37 starts testing on Midland Metro

Posted on Monday 21 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

There have been some more changes to the operational Midland Metro Urbos 3 fleet recently with 34 becoming the 18th of the class to enter passenger service whilst the newest of the trams – 37 – has now started testing.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 3 Comments

Edinburgh Trams passenger numbers up again

Posted on Monday 21 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

New figures released by Edinburgh Trams have shown that passenger numbers are continuing to increase with a rise of 12% when compared to this time last year. The projected total number of passenger journeys in 2015 is also 5.1 million – meaning the service is continuing to outperform targets set in the business model.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 726

Posted on Monday 21 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

As a Christmas bonus we will be taking some extra trips down memory lane this week in our Picture in Time series starting off in Blackpool just over 10 years ago, 10 years which have seen major changes on this always popular tramway. The tram we take a look at today is Balloon 726.

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In Pictures: Blackpool Santa Specials

Posted on Sunday 20 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

A successful year of Heritage Tours in Blackpool has now come to an end with the last hurrah being the third and final Santa Specials on Saturday 19th December. As with the previous two Saturdays the Western Train was in situ at North Pier with the man in the red coat ready to meet the children – before embarking on a single trip at the end of the day – whilst two trams operated a regular timetabled heritage service along the Prom with the chosen pair being Balloon 717 and Twin Car 272+T2.

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