It has been revealed that the trams at Beamish covered 16,305 miles during 2025 – a year which saw no trams between January and April because of major track relaying work. And 2026 is set to see even more investment in the tramway infrastructure to continue to maintain and improve the hardest working heritage tramway in the UK.
The 2025 mileage figures are not only impressive when you consider the first quarter of the year saw nothing run but also that there were only four trams available for use.
The figures for each operational tram, as announced on the Beamish Transport and Industry blog, were:
- Sheffield 264 – 5752 miles
- Sunderland 16 – 4637 miles
- Blackpool 31 – 3531 miles
- Oporto 196 – 2385 miles
It is hoped that Newcastle 114 will be able to rejoin the operating fleet during 2026. One of its controllers has now been sent away to a contractor to be overhauled and once that is back the second one will also go away. Then comes the completion of a touch-up of its paintwork which is currently scheduled for the spring.
Of note, and showing how things have evolved with the transport offering at Beamish – as well as how busy the museum is now and how much transport is needed, the buses now provide around two thirds of the total mileage around the museum site. And its said that the total transport fleet has done the equivalent of 33,000 times circuits of the museum in 2025!
Not one to rest of their laurels and the winter period will also see another six figure investment in the tramway infrastructure. This is taking the form of our distinct phases:
- Foulbridge bus turning circle (work already started which will see an extra length of track infilled to provide a better circle for buses heading down to the Colliery)
- Sleeper renewal between the Town and Pockerley
- Rail welding on the outer circle Town curves
- Overhead line equipment renewal