With it being less than a month until the annual Global Light Rail Awards take place in London, the first nominations have been revealed with both Blackpool Transport and the West Midlands Metro announcing that they are up for awards on the night.
The Global Light Rail Awards take place on 1st October 2025 at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London and are the only awards dedicated to light rail in the world. They aim to recognise achievement, innovation and excellence across the sector.
For Blackpool Transport they have been nominated for two awards – UK Operator of the Year and Best Customer Initiative. This comes off the back of a new team dedicated to driving off-tram ticket sales while offering face-to-face travel advice to visitors.
Jane Cole, Blackpool Transport’s Managing Director, said: “Facing stiff competition from much larger tramways, to be among the front runners for the Operator of the Year title is already a huge achievement.
“It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire Blackpool Transport team over the past 12 months, and the investments we’ve made to boost service frequency and to improve the customer experience.
“We’re also delighted that the successful introduction of our team of customer assistants, and the impact they are having on driving patronage and enhancing passenger satisfaction, has been recognised in another hotly contested award category.”
Meanwhile, West Midlands Metro have even more cause to celebrate as they have been nominated in six categories. They will be competing in categories including UK Operator of the Year, and Most Improved System whilst Network Controller Nicola Steadman is on the shortlist for Employee of the Year and Assistant Fleet Engineer Michael Parkes is nominated for the Rising Star Award. Other categories include Environmental, and Vision of the Year.
Sophie Allison, Managing Director of West Midlands Metro, said: “This recognition from the wider light rail community represents a huge vote of confidence in our dedicated team. We have worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to enhance existing services while planning for future expansion, and to be nominated for six awards is a huge achievement and endorsement in itself.”
The full shortlist is actually announced although they do name which systems are up for awards. As well as the two above other UK nominees include Colas Rail and Coventry City Council, Edinburgh Trams, KeolisAmey Docklands, KeolisAmey Metrolink, Luton DART, Network Rail Light Rail Team, Nexus and Kier Transportation, Nottingham Express Transit, South Yorkshire Supertram, and Tram Operations Limited.