Another look into the archives takes us to Manchester for a 1992 image from Manchester Metrolink with the tram featured today being T68 1015.
1015 was originally delivered to Manchester on 27th March 1992 having been constructed by Firema at their Casertane Works. However having arrived in the UK it was initially destined to be used as a source of spare parts to allow other trams to be commissioned for service. Following the entry into service of 1026 it was itself then commissioned for service operating its first fare revenue services on 2nd July 1992. The tram continued in service until withdrawal beckoned on 20th September 2012 (by which time it had become the first tram in Manchester to carry a non-standard livery with the special Get Our Metrolink Back on Track vinyls applied in September and had also temporarily become PolitanLink 1030 for the infamous Coronation Street tram crash in 2010). It remained stored in Manchester until 24th July 2014 when it left for Rotherham where it was soon scrapped.
In today’s picture we find 1015 on 20th July 1992 on the final approach to Piccadilly Station – a much changed location today with Manchester having enjoyed a major redevelopment in the intervening years.
Photograph by Ralph Oakes-Garnett