Birkenhead tramway closes temporarily

Posted on Saturday 13 October 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Following last weekend’s succesful Wirral Bus & Tram Show, the Birkenhead heritage tramway is temporarily closed whilst new safety procedures are being introduced. Although recent inspection has determined that the tramway is operating safely, some new procedures need to be put in place and it may take a while for these to be fully implemented. In the meantime no tram service will operate, although the museum area at Taylor Street remains open to visitors. The re-opening of the tramway will be announced in due course.

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5 Responses to Birkenhead tramway closes temporarily

  1. David Taylor says:
    Monday 15 October 2012 at 12:39

    I am surprised to read this entry as I work at the museum and trams were running Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th when I was there.

    Could Andrew Waddington tell us what the new safety procedures are as the health & safety officer was in the depot last week and did not mention them to the workers.

    We have a strong health and safety regime amongst the workers and most of it is common sense. The tramway will be closed until further notice as the overhead requires maintenance . The next running should be the Santa specials but intending customers should phone the museum to check the runing days.

    • Andrew Waddington says:
      Monday 15 October 2012 at 21:06

      David – thanks for your update. This information came first hand from a working member of the MTPS, and has also been published (so far without comment I believe) on another leading tramway news source on the Internet. I have been given no further detail on what exactly the new safety procedures involve so cannot comment on this. Please keep us updated as I’m sure that, if the tramway is open, there will be people who will want to visit it!

      • Ken Walker says:
        Wednesday 17 October 2012 at 18:08

        This is a quote from BBC News website today, Weds 17/10.

        “Heritage trams have been suspended in Wirral because of fears over safety.

        “Trams dating back to as far as 1901 run from Woodside ferry terminal to the Wirral Transport Museum in Birkenhead.

        “Wirral Borough Council said an internal safety audit was carried out to ensure the service complied with regulations governing tram operators.

        “Concerns were raised and auditors recommended that no trams should operate while they were being investigated.

        “A working group is being set up to review the trams’ management system.”

        So Wirral Borough Council seem to be behind it.

  2. Paul says:
    Wednesday 17 October 2012 at 19:46

    Sadly Wirral Borough Council’s website confirms that the Tramway IS closed until further notice because the council is not satisfied with the tramways Safety Management Systems…

    http://www.wirral.gov.uk/news/17-10-2012/heritage-tram-service-halted

    Paul

  3. Ted Ainscow says:
    Thursday 18 October 2012 at 13:44

    The tramway will have a replacement heritage bus service until the new management system is in place, and the trams start running once more. This is not a Health and Safety issue, it is a management issue.
    Anything heard or read in the media, about Health & Safety issues at the tramway, is inacurate and misleading.

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