We return to Blackpool for this edition of “15 Years Apart” and its Balloon 700, a tram which may be in the same livery in both 2007 and 2022 but much else has changed!
In 2007 could be found in the popular wartime green and cream livery which it has received as part of its pseudo heritage refurbishment. Featuring twin destination indicators and roof windows the tram had gone back to a pantograph having originally been fitted with a trolley. It looks as if on 2nd September 2007 it has been wet and the pantograph grease has made the tram look a little grubby as it pauses on the way to Pleasure Beach.
On 3rd June 2022 and 700 is back in wartime green and cream as we see it at Fisherman’s Walk in Fleetwood when operating a Coastal Tour. The tram hasn’t kept this livery throughout the past 15 years as when it was converted to a B fleet Balloon (which saw the installation of the widened doors amongst other features) it firstly received a plain white livery and then the Flexity purple and white livery but went back to these colours in 2021. (Both Photographs by Gareth Prior)
I think it’s now time they should remove the B-fleet modifications from 700 and give it the respectful place in tramway history the car deserves. The widened doors are a particular abomination. If they reallyw anted these trams to line up with the new platforms I’m sure some kind of fold-up ramp modification could have been done that would have been far less intrusive. Given they still need two conductors because of the tram’s capacity, I see no reason on earth why the automatic doors were needed. It’s almost like they wanted to make the old trams appear too costly to keep. 😉
As is well documented the doors were added to increase the width to allow the B fleet to use the new platforms safely with a minimal gap closer to Flexity width. If they hadn’t been done we would be 9 balloons less now. They were designed to allow a 2 person crew but BTS decided to run them with 3, with the conductor controlling the doors via bells not the driver via camera. No you cannot use a fold up ramp. At every stop, really? I believe a sliding out step was considered but couldn’t be fitted.
Why spend 12k plus taking them off? Surely money better spent on other Trams? theya re also legally B fleet so cannot be removed while still in use in Blackpool.
Asisde from the reasons behind the B Fleet modifications which have been covered by others, where would the money and manpower required to restore 700 to a more traditional condition come from? Let’s face it, Blackpool don’t have the resources to carry out work on trams that have funding allocated to them like 663 and 706, let alone take on a new project like this. Removing the door modifications wouldn’t achieve anything really, other than taking an attractive and useful tram out of service for however long it would take to complete the required work.
I think its best to accept that, if you want Blackpool trams in a totally authentic condition, you need them to go to a museum. If you prefer them operating on their original system, you’ll probably have to accept some compromises.
Blackpool’s B fleet balloons run with one conductor with the driver operating the doors.
I do, however, agree that 700 should be restored as built without the “conservatory doors” given its place in the history of the fleet.
The “do they fit the platforms or not” issue is a good excuse because, if you visit Fleetwood Transport Festival, the heritage fleet passes Fisherman’s Walk stop to turn and the gap is no more than a bus at a bus stop.
The ‘do they fit the platforms or not’ argument is valid. Legally trams in normal service have to conform to very tight access conditions. These are far tighter than standards applicable to normal service buses so the comparison is not valid. Whether BTS ever needed the B fleet is open to conjecture but if it was considered that there would be a requirement to enhance the basic service pattern that need would legally have to be met by trams meeting the level access regulations. Modifying a few balloons was obviously an more affordable option than buying additional Flexity 2 cars. I think my views on the number of balloon cars are well known so I won’t repeat them here.
They were done at atime long before the Flex were built (!) as no one knew what the future held once the new system opened. Afrter North Station openes they may well be needed – and so they are there and ready. In the meantime they provide extra heritage capacity.
I’m sorry but I must contradict you there as I had some professional involvement in the modernisation of the system. The Flexity 2 initial fleet order was already underway when the B fleet conversion got underway and the fleet size included 10 conversions to the widened door condition. The first B fleet conversions were indeed completed before the first Flexity cars arrived but the two fleets were planned together including financial support from central government.
The B fleet have NEVER run with one conductor and both decks open. They run with 2 or top deck closed.
There are plenty of trams in Germany and Italy that used or still use an automatic underfloor sliding step to bridge the gap between the body and a low platform.