Bank Holiday Monday in Blackpool. Its going to be busy, right? Especially with the sun shining after what seems to have been a very long period with grey overcast clouds. And when its busy in Blackpool you want the tramway to move people along the Prom. Unfortunately, on Monday 29th May this wasn’t possible to start the day as power supply problems meant there were no trams at all running to start the day – covering both the modern Flexity2 trams and the planned Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours Enhanced Weekend.
It wasn’t until 1130 that some power was returned to the tramway and this saw a limited tram service resumed, but only between Starr Gate and Little Bispham. As well as the Flexity2s running on this section, Heritage Tram Tours were able to do the same.
Obviously, on Enhanced Weekends the heritage trams usually run to a timetable with various journeys heading north from Pleasure Beach including some all the way through to Fleetwood. With this not possible trams instead ran a combination of journeys between Pleasure Beach and Little Bispham with Boat Cars 227 and 600 and Balloon Cars 700 and 723 in action. In addition Blackpool Transport’s heritage Open Top Olympian 857 was used on bus trips to Fleetwood to cover for the lack of heritage trams to the northernmost outpost of the tramway.
A full tram service resumed just after 1430 and this allowed the final planned Fleetwood journey of the day to run with Balloon 700, departing Pleasure Beach at 1610. Then with a late start of the day an extra special was run to Fleetwood – Boat 227 – at 1850 from North Pier and Tower. This happened to coincide with the planned evening tour (the Frigate) which also ran to Fleetwood, allowing the chance to see the trams together on the Esplanade.
For the record the rest of the weekend saw the following output:
Saturday 27th May: Bolton 66, Boat 227, Brush 621, Balloon 700, Balloon 717 plus Railcoach 680 on the Real Ale Tour and specials after that and the Western Train on an evening tour
Sunday 28th May: Bolton 66, Boat 227, Brush 621, Rebuilt Balloon 707, Balloon 717 plus Boat 600 on specials
- The next Enhanced Weekend is due to take place on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th Before then there will be an Event Weekend on Saturday 26th-Monday 28th August. Regular tours will be continuing throughout the summer before these as well. More details at https://blackpoolheritage.com/
707 made a fine sight on Sunday but it would be good to see double-deck trams running along the promenade every day during the season. Here is a suggestion:
The ‘B’ fleet should comprise just the four rebuilt ‘Balloons’ (so-called ‘Millennium’ trams) which should carry the purple and white fleet livery (or overall advertisements if you prefer) and be kept at Starr Gate. They could operate two daily, single-shift rosters during the season, one from Starr Gate to Blackpool North (when it opens) and one from Pleasure Beach to Bispham Loop. Normal fares should be charged. Many tourists still expect to see double-deck trams in Blackpool and would be tempted to travel on them (but not on a modern single-decker), hence the enhanced service should lead to increased ridership daily.
The six remaining ‘B’ trams could be transferred to the ‘C’ fleet. Unquestionably there would still be ‘space’ (i.e. a demand) for the green (red/illuminated) premium-price heritage services and heritage services of the type that currently operate (and are much appreciated by me and many others).