The Seaton Tramway in Devon was the first heritage line to reopen following the lifting of government restrictions back on Saturday 4th July. With a recent increase in services – running at least every 20 minutes between 1000 and 1600 every day until the end of September – and further trams now available to run (just 4 and 19 haven’t been cleared fir service now) if you pop down to the tramway you are likely to see a good number of trams operating with up to seven double deckers potentially running each day during August (subject to the usual caveats). This pictorial article takes a look at some of the trams in service over the weekend of 1st and 2nd August, including some of the Covid-19 changes put in place. Photos from Paul Hudd.
On Saturday 1st August five trams were used in service: 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 with Sunday 2nd August seeing 2, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 in use.
With grey skies overhead on Saturday 1st August 8 waits for a tram to arrive at Swan’s Nest Loop before it can continues its journey to Colyford and then Colyton. This will be the location of the Seaton Wetlands halt, which is expected to be ready for 2021.
And here is the tram coming the other way – 11 with a service to Seaton.
With 8 now having made its way to Colyton we take a look at the top deck where each seat has been numbered. Before boarding passengers will be told which seat number to head for (all seats both lower and upper decks are numbered) to ensure that social distancing can be maintained.
The seating diagram of no. 8 showing the location of all seats. 1-21 downstairs and 23-43 upstairs. All trams have these diagrams to show where people can sit but not all seats will be occupied on each journey.
On Sunday 2nd August 6 and 2 were working as a pair and are seen in this photo at Colyton. Boarding at Colyton is now taking place at the far end of the platform instead of the usual stop seen just beyond the black bin on the left hand side here. Most of the trams have also now received the 50th anniversary stickers as seen here on 6. (All Photographs by Paul Hudd)