An illuminating Bank Holiday ahead

The August Bank Holiday weekend is now looking even more colourful than it did for the Blackpool tramway, with the announcement that the weekend’s heritage tram action will be book-ended by appearances from the illuminated feature cars. On Friday 26th August there will be a rare chance to ride two of them to Fleetwood, whilst on Tuesday 30th they will be out again for the popular annual ‘Ride the Lights’ event.

Friday evening tours preceding enhanced heritage tram running weekends have been a popular addition to the 2016 operating season, and the next one could well prove to be the best yet! On 26th August, both the Western Train 733+734 and Frigate 736 will run to Fleetwood together not once, but twice. The Frigate is scheduled to leave depot first at 1750, running via Foxhall to Pleasure Beach for a planned 1815 departure. It will then be joined by the Train at North Pier and the duo will then head to Fleetwood together, where they should arrive at 1902. With departure booked for 1913, this should provide some very special photo opportunities as to see two illuminated trams at Fleetwood together is extremely rare. Both trams will then head south to Pleasure Beach before returning to Fleetwood, and then it will be back to depot for an expected finish time of 2200. Normal ticket prices will apply and heritage day tickets will be valid for both the evening tours and daytime heritage service. 

After three days of the standard gold heritage service, Tuesday 30th August will see the feature cars back in action. ‘Ride the Lights’ night has become a major date in the Blackpool calendar, offering a preview of the annual illuminations spectacle with the promenade closed to all traffic except cycles – and trams of course! Once again, the Train and Frigate are scheduled to operate on this evening although this time they will be running solely between Pleasure Beach and Little Bispham. Tours will actually start at 1800 with each tram expected to perform three round trips. An innovation is that they will collect passengers from all of the heritage stops en route – so North Pier & Tower, Cabin and Bispham as well as Pleasure Beach. In a further act to tempt even more people to take a ride, a special fare structure is in place with adults paying £5 and children £3. Further generous discounts will be offered on this night only for local residents on proof of their postcode paying just £3, or £2 for children. Hopefully this will encourage lots of people to enjoy this unique experience and spread the word about how much fun a tram tour through the illuminations is! Once again, heritage day passes will also be valid as of course the normal two car daytime promenade service will operate earlier that day.

Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours are once again to be commended for introducing new ideas to the events programme, and for capitalising on an already popular local event and offering added incentive for people to experience a heritage tram tour who may otherwise not have done so.