Crich Tramway Village was forced to remain closed to the general public on Tuesday 17th September, due to a lack of water on site. This was caused by three burst water pipes in the local area, which left the museum and indeed the entire village of Crich without any water.
Thankfully, the attraction was able to re-open the following day although a reduced admission charge was made due to the fact that only one tram (Blackpool 40) was operating. Presumably this was due to a shortage of volunteer crews rather than being a direct consequence of the water issues, but undoubtedly this was a black mark for the museum. Although Crich is known for its strict maintenance policies and the requirement for service trams to be thoroughly cleaned after use, surely an effort could have been made to swap the car in service part way through the day to offer visitors the opportunity to ride on at least two different members of the fleet? To have just one tram running at the National Tramway Museum is clearly very poor, and reducing the entry fee accordingly will only serve to further reduce income in what has already been a very disappointing year. Hopefully this will prove to be an isolated occurance, and a minimum two-car service will continue to be offered.