The situation with closures and changes to openings of heritage tramways and museums continues to change rapidly as the Coronavirus pandemic continues to make itself felt. It is inevitable, sensible and understandable that these decisions have to be made and the below list gives all the details as know at the moment. At a time when government advice is that we should be exercising social distancing and only undertake essential travel it is no surprise that these decisions are made and hopefully the situation will improve in the coming months. This is likely to be the last regular update as practically everywhere has now announced their temporary closure but we’re keep you updated.
The current situation location by location is as follows but it remains a fluid situation:
Beamish
The museum will close at 1600 on Friday 20th March until at least 1st May. The Great North Steam Fair will be postponed to a later date.
Black Country Living Museum
The museum will initially be closed from Wednesday 18th March until 1st May. The situation will be continuously reviewed.
Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours
All tours suspended until further notice. Events up until at least Totally Models have been cancelled so far. The Fylde Tramway Society have also announced they will be cancelling their convention weekend over the VE Day May Bank Holiday weekend.
Crich Tramway Village
Now confirmed that the museum will be closed until at least 22nd May. This includes the cancellation of all special events in this period.
Douglas Bay Horse Tramway
Although not scheduled to start yet services will not resume for the foreseeable future in line with other heritage tramways on the Isle of Man. Presumably the official opening of the new depot will also be postponed.
Heaton Park Tramway
With immediate effect all operations have been suspended. This includes not only standard service but also the 40th birthday event on 29th March and tram driving experiences.
Ipswich Transport Museum
Closed until further notice.
London Transport Museum
Closed until further notice. This includes the Acton Store and all events including heritage vehicle outings.
Manx Electric Railway
Services were suspended from the end of Thursday 19th March for the foreseeable future. Rush Hour on the Railways is cancelled
North East Land Sea and Air Museum
Closed until further notice.
Seaton Tramway
The decision has been taken to suspend all services with immediate effect and until further notice. All events will be cancelled as well.
Snaefell Mountain Railway
Services suspended until further notice including dining services.
Statfold Barn Railway
All events are postponed and the railway will be closed until further notice. It is planned that the events which are unable to take place will be rearranged later in the year.
Summerlee Museum
The museum will be closed until further notice. This means the planned 25th anniversary since launch of Lanarkshire 53 event will not take place.
Volk’s Electric Railway
Services will not commence 4th April as planned and will remain suspended until further notice.
Wirral Transport Museum and Heritage Tramway
The museum and tramway will be closed until at least the end of April.
This is a comprehensive list and now includes practially every tramway and museum which has been forced to closed. Any updates will be posted on this site.
Crich have announced today that they are closing completely as from today for the foreseeable future