With concerns being raised about upgrading work on the Blackpool and Fleetwood
tramway, various councillors seem to have become sufficiently worried about negative comments to release statements to the press regarding the project and what their current expectations are. The full tramway was expected to re-open from 6th April, which would give passengers the chance of a tram ride all the way from Starr Gate to Fleetwood Ferry and back for the first time since September 2009 – but delays at the northern end of the line could scupper this plan.
Blackpool Council’s Project Manager Paul Grocott, stated to the Fleetwood Weekly News
that “we don’t want to complete the tramway and not have a service into Fleetwood”. He remained optimistic however, also saying: “I think as long as we keep pushing we will be running the service.” Derek Eaton, the Chairman for Fleetwood’s Chamber of Trade, also remains optimistic. He said: “Time is on our side and we are hope we can negotiate a way out of this. They should be taking steps to ensure there is no uncertainty.” It is also understood that Fleetwood Town Council are looking at ways to generate some positive publicity for the town when the northern end of the tramway finally re-opens, to hopefully try and compensate for some of the revenue local businesses have lost by being deprived
of a tram service for the past two years.
However, Chris Anslow, a Transport Development Manager for Lancashire County Council
seems less optimistic and he suggested to the Fleetwood Weekly News that the re-opening of the line through Fleetwood “depends on there being no prolonged severe weather conditions”. The main stumbling block seems to be the completion of a new substation at Fleetwood Ferry, which was delayed as local residents objected to proposals to locate it in the middle of a park area in front of the North Euston Hotel. Instead, a nearby toilet block was demolished and work on constructing a new building to house both the substation and public toilets is now underway, but it remains to be seen whether this will be ready in time for Easter. If not, locals could have to wait even longer for the return of trams to Fleetwood with the possibility of the service terminating at Fisherman’s Walk at first. Hopefully this will not be the case as it would cause considerable embarrassment for a project which really needs to win over a lot of public support in the coming weeks and months, if the new look Blackpool tramway is to be a success.