Blackpool Transport have had reason to celebrate recently as the famous tramway has been named the number one ‘thing to do’ in Blackpool by users of the popular website TripAdvisor. According to recent statistics, over 1400 people had proclaimed the tram service to be ‘excellent’ on the website, with a further 438 proclaiming it ‘very good’.
By contrast, a relatively low total of 280 people had used the same website to declare that the tramway was ‘average’ or worse; not a bad total considering the number of people out there who use websites like this to tell the world about the things they dislike! Clearly the modern Flexity trams are much admired by the travelling public, whilst after a few years of limited use, people also seem to have a renewed appreciation of the heritage fleet which are now doing great service on a more regular basis. This has proved beyond any doubt that mixing old and new rolling stock is possible, and that both can be profitable and popular without causing much significant disruption to the other.
Another positive sign that Blackpool Transport are embracing the digital age has been the vast improvement in the company’s use of social media to promote its services to an online audience. Not long after launching a new Twitter page which is being well used daily to inform customers of notable delays and disruption to bus and tram services, a second Twitter page has now appeared devoted solely to the heritage tram tours. This joins the already successful Facebook page in providing information on the retained heritage tram fleet, and is another step in making sure that as many people as possible are well aware of the continued presence of these icons of the town and when to see and ride on them.
There is also a Trip Advisor site for the Heritage Tramway operation which is as relevant a tourist attraction for Blackpool as any of the other main draws, rather than merely performing the mundane job of simply carrying them about, which the Flexity operation does effectively, but in a manner that will never attract the iconic status that the heritage fleet already possesses!
The more who post on that site the more the Heritage Tramway will gain recognition
Right, the tramway is popular; then let’s get on with that station extension NOW without any more bureaucratic time-wasting.
If they just got on with things like that they would have to do away with countless ‘jobs for the boys’ positions, not to mention countless redundancies among the manufacturers of Red Tape. Be reasonable John!!!!! Extending to North station would eventually make up for loss of the Dickson Road route. I wonder if that would have closed if it had been known that the railway line to Fleetwood was also going to close soon adterwards.
Fully agree! They should do it as soon as possible! Hopefully they can do Lytham too, there’s a lot of talk about that at the moment.
I agree; the restoration of Lytham Road trams would do much to alleviate traffic congestion. They should never have abandoned the route in the sixties, but the politics of the time; i.e. cheaper bus substitution held sway.
I don’t think that the Lytham Road route is one of the options under consideration,but I stand to be corrected by those closer to the project. The context of Lytham was a link between Starr Gate and Squires Gate linking onto the Blackpool South to Kirkham rail line. One option was tram train to Preston or alternatively and less expensive tram to Lytham with an end on transfer to the train to Preston.
Yes, I suppose access to the rail line would be from the Promenade then along Clifton Drive and Squires Gate Lane, as used to be the case many years ago. It would seem sensible to consider Lytham Road for access to provide an alternative connection with the rail line, but this is speculation and someway into the future.