The Heaton Park Tramway have stated that the planned Saturday service will not operate on 3rd September. However, the trams will be running on Sunday 4th September with a three-car service expected to coincide with the annual Trans Lanc Rally taking place in the grounds of the Manchester park.
Unfortunately this heritage tramway has had to remain closed on a number of planned operating days this summer, seemingly due to a shortage of volunteer drivers. On each occasion little notice has been given and this has resulted in some visitors turning up expecting a tram ride only to end up disappointed. Anyone planning to visit the tramway, particularly on a Saturday, is currently advised to check before travelling if you have a particularly long journey to make.
The short notice closure is regrettable but reflects the fact that the staff have done everything they possibly can to try and recruit staff right to the last possible moment! They have been hit by a set of circumstances beynd their control re staff shortages but I’m tod it should all be sirted over winter!
Most operations are struggling to raise sufficient crews, Crich only managed a two car service today. Competent volunteers are urgently needed by all of our heritage tramways!
It should be remembered that Heaton Park’s regular Saturday Drivers are both “off sick” one recovering from a broken leg etc. It is only a small museum and so problems can arise as other staff have other duties and commitments on Saturdays ranging from work to families via all points and organisations. Volunteers tend to also be active in other community areas they are that sort of people and when untoward sickness and accidents elsewhere set in these sort of problems are to be expected. Heaton Park is not a large organisation.
Whilst I sympathise totally and have been involved elsewhere with similar issues, surely there is some sort of rota which is known in advance if someone is available or not. If the off sick drivers (I presume you refer to long term) can’t be replaced then surely the service should be cancelled for say a month and this well advertised?
Putting notice up earlier, only to then find available staff and then run anyway would just give the headline “Tramway publishes closure only to operate anyway”…… This website seems to becoming more like your regular tabloid dribble….
Whilst this is no doubt disappointing it should be borne in mind that the tramway does rely on a band of dedicated volunteers who must contribute long hours to keep things going. They obviously don’t have the luxury of paid staff to fall back on.
Well done to all those who labour to keep the trams running.
Think we need to put this into perspective, it is a pity that we could not run today, as the public like it, but we have TRANS LANCS tomorrow which will be AWESOME as usual and only possible by the hard working members of the society. It also need to be pointed out that is it a hobby not a job and members have a right to enjoy themselves doing other things too, such as time with family.
The trouble is if service keeps getting cancelled at short notice is it will put people off going in the future as they won’t be able to trust it will definitely be open. Not everyone who wants to visit lives in the surrounding area and will make plans on the day depending on whether there is a service or not. It also doesn’t help that the announcement was only on Facebook – not everyone either has or want’s to be on Facebook and will check the website before travelling. Unfortunately at the moment the website only says that the tramway won’t operate on 30th July but will be back operating on 31st July (mind you the website doesn’t even mention Saturday operating)
With respect Gareth, the Sat Market tends to be locals having a nice family day out in the Park. What is interesting is that today we operated an intensive 3 car service as part of the Trans Lanc that the HPT is part of and it appears to have been one of our most successful to date and was a mixture of families and the enthusiates . This could only have been acheived by the hard work of the members on site.
There are definitely two sides to this story. I can sympathise that its not the MTMS’ fault and they’re doing their best, but at the same time, maybe a Saturday service shouldn’t be advertised if it can’t run, allowing the volunteers to focus on Sundays? By announcing the closure on this website surely we are helping to ensure that less people come only to be disappointed – and we’ve heard from at least one visitor who was less than impressed to turn up on a day when the planned service was cancelled.
If any heritage operation (Crich, Blackpool etc.) closed it would be considered newsworthy and would receive coverage accordingly.
Andrew, In this article you are making a big deal of the fact that we have unfortunately had to cancel operations on “a number of occasions” for you and your readers info that number is actually 3. You neglect to mention that on at least that number of occasions this year Blackpool has operated only one heritage tram instead of the advertised 2, and goodness knows how many times Crich have operated less than the advertised number of cars. I don’t recall those event triggereing similar overly sensationalist headlines on your site.
Were they not in you own words “considered newsworthy” and why did they not “receive coverage accordingly.”
Because there is a difference between Crich running 2 trams instead of 3 and running nothing at all. Surely even a 100+ year old tramcar can understand that?
Incidentally people seem to be forgetting how much support and goodwill I have shown towards Heaton Park in the past. Give me some positive news about the place and I’ll be delighted to write about it!
“Give me some positive news about the place and I’ll be delighted to write about it!” How about some news of the “then” upcoming Trans Lancs rally where the tramway sees one of its buisiest days of the year. An even that ran perfectly and as advertised……
I suspect the reason they have started a Saturday service is at least partly due to pressure from people complaining about the lack of a Saturday service when that day is easier than Sunday for anyone travelling by public transport. It seems they can’t win.
I agree that running 2 vice 3 or 1 vice 2 is a different kettle of fish from cancelling a 1 tram service when people are unaware and maybe they should look at at least putting a statement on the website when the service is cancelled to try to prevent wasted journeys, but Heaton Park are far from the only ones who fail to do this. Never having set up a website myself I have no idea how easy or difficult that is to do. Then again it depends how ‘last minute’ the problem occurs.
The ideal solution of course is for some of those complaining about the short-notice closures to go down to HP and volunteer to train up as drivers! If there are only 2 regular drivers available for Saturday turns that leaves little or no room for manoeuvre and they can’t just drag people in off the street and make them become drivers.
I agree that if people turn up for an advertised service to find the tramway shut it won’t do a lot ror the museum’s popularity but in the absence of sufficient drivers to cover contingencies I don’t see what they can do short-term. Even if people volunteer they still have to be trained and pass assessments.
Agree absolutely and, as regards crewing, there can be no quick fix. It would also probably help if one or two of the critics could offer their services on the administrative side of the organisation, perhaps to help keep the public informed? For most heritage tram operations, if this practical involvement is not forthcoming, then the likelihood of some of them ‘going to the wall’ is increasingly likely. And this does not only apply to the smaller organisations!
Let’s also hope that the non-constructive criticism does not demoralise the Heaton Park stalwarts.
Ok, a positive story.
Yesterday, thanks to huge effort by a relatively small number of volunteers, Heaton Park Tramway ran a service for a full 8 hours in support of the Trans Lancs Rally. During peak times, 619, 765 and 96 were all in use. In addition to that, we ran two shops, had 173 and 43 on display, opened the museum and ran a small model tramway exhibition.
Two new drivers have recently been passed out, with hopefully two more to follow shortly. There are several trainees currently progressing through the Guards Training School and more on the waiting list. All the training officers also have at least one other role on the Tramway,(sometimes more), and do their very best to ensure that all operational staff are properly trained to provide a safe service to the public.
As has already been stated, this is on top of other commitments such as families and jobs.
Cancelling a service is NEVER a decision taken lightly, but if circumstances, sometimes at short notice, mean that the Tramway cannot be operated SAFELY then there is no other option and every effort is made to let people know. It must be remembered that there is not someone full time on the end of a phone just waiting to update websites, etc.
Finally, if anyone out there wishes to help in any capacity, then you know where to find us!
Thanks for this info – is it OK if we use this as a basis for a news story? As we can’t get to every tram event that happens information like this is really helpful.
Certainly.