It looks as if a service will finally run on the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway again later this month. Even potentially as early as next week’s Transport Festival. The news of their imminent return was revealed in Tynwald earlier this week.
During the Tynwald update it was confirmed that the new track layout at Broadway had now been approved by the Inspector of Railways and with horse training having been underway for several weeks it looks as if it will be all systems go!
It was the end of the 2019 season that horse trams last ran with passengers on-board in Douglas (in fact this was the last time that a horse tram ran anywhere in the British Isles with no horse tram days having taken place at Crich either in the intervening period) at which point the service was suspended to allow for the Promenade redevelopment to take place.
This redevelopment has been much delayed – not helped by the pandemic amongst many other reasons – which means that the whole 2020 and 2021 seasons were missed by the horse trams. It was hoped that 2022 would be a better year but at one stage it appeared that once again the familiar clip-clop of the horses in Douglas would be missing with work still required on the installation of a new set of points at Broadway, where the tracks switch from double to single track.
However, these new points did arrive on the Isle of Man earlier this year and after their installation and initial testing it now seems that it all systems go.
When the service does resume it will be a different horse tramway to that we last saw in 2019. It will only run from Derby Castle to Broadway with the section from there to the Sea Terminal awaiting yet more approval from Tynwald before work can commence. The new (and hopefully temporary) terminus at Broadway has also been constructed at the side of the road rather than on its former central alignment and this has involved a new layout for the tramway, which has been the cause of much debate and testing.
Speaking of the “missing” section to the Sea Terminal, the same Tynwald session also heard from Kerry Sharpe MLC who apparently agreed that there was no point in having half a tram track. Its was also suggested that it will be later this year that Tynwald will have the chance to debate the merits of re-extending the tramway again.
The full line was approved by Tynwald. This delay is a total bodge. The inept Tynwald and the DOI are fully responsible for the non completion back to Sea Terminal. There is absolutely NO excuse for this “delay”. No further discussions, just bloody well get on with it!!!