Liam Gallagher to make Metrolink announcements

Posted on Wednesday 11 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

Liam Gallagher is to carry on the Manchester Metrolink tradition of using celebrities to make tramstop announcements over the next few days. He will be making announcements in celebration of the Bee Network and the new Beyond the Music Festival which takes place across Manchester between 11th and 14th October.

Continue reading →

Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 1 Comment

In Pictures: New advert for 264 in Edinburgh

Posted on Tuesday 10 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

The new adverts in Edinburgh just keep on coming! The latest tram to have a change of external advertising is 264 which is now advertising National Galleries of Scotland, as seen at the very end of September.

Continue reading →

Posted in Edinburgh Trams | Comments Off on In Pictures: New advert for 264 in Edinburgh

Whitley Bay Station restoration back underway

Posted on Tuesday 10 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

Work to restore the canopy at Whitley Bay Tyne and Wear Metro station is back on track after the appointment of a new contractor to complete the work. Work has been due to get underway in July but the original contractor appointed, Buckingham Group, went into administration throwing the project into doubt but Kier Group have now been appointed to complete the work.

Continue reading →

Posted in Tyne and Wear Metro | Comments Off on Whitley Bay Station restoration back underway

More Metrocars go for scrap

Posted on Monday 9 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

The reliability of the outgoing (and original to the line in the 1980s) Metrocars and the anticipation of the introduction into service of the new Stadler trains currently being built for the Tyne and Wear Metro is rarely out of the news lately. And the story has now started a new chapter with the resumption of the movement of some of the withdrawn Metrocars for scrapping.

Continue reading →

Posted in Tyne and Wear Metro | Comments Off on More Metrocars go for scrap

West Midlands Metro named UK Tram Operator of the Year

Posted on Monday 9 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

West Midlands Metro is celebrating another award win after they were named UK Tram Operator of the Year at the National Transport Awards. This ceremony came just 24 hours after their recognition at the Global Light Rail Awards for various initiatives introduced over the past 12 months.

Continue reading →

Posted in West Midlands Metro | Comments Off on West Midlands Metro named UK Tram Operator of the Year

Out and About: A brief stop at Hollinsend – July 2023

Posted on Monday 9 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

Its time to get “Out and About” again as we look at some (fairly) recent photos on a UK tramway. This time out its back to Sheffield with a brief stop to Hollinsend on the Blue and Purple routes.

Continue reading →

Posted in Out and About, South Yorkshire Supertram | Comments Off on Out and About: A brief stop at Hollinsend – July 2023

Trams &: Sunderland 16 & bus

Posted on Sunday 8 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

In this “Trams &” we are again returning to Beamish – or is that Sunderland? As both the tram and bus we feature originally operated in that city.

Continue reading →

Posted in Beamish Tramway, Trams & | Comments Off on Trams &: Sunderland 16 & bus

In Pictures: Lucie in action at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Posted on Sunday 8 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

Thanks in no small part to its appearances on Channel 5 series “A Yorkshire Steam Railway” and “Britain by Steam” probably the most famous steam tram engine in the UK now is Lucie, an engine which spent most of its working life in Belgium but is now resident at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway where it has been restored to operational condition.

Continue reading →

Posted in General | 1 Comment

Overhead line problems cause Sheffield service change

Posted on Sunday 8 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

There were changes to services being run on Stagecoach Supertram on Friday 6th October following an overhead line problem on the route to Meadowhall. The problem was at Carbrook and meant there were changes to services both on the Yellow route and the Tram-Train service.

Continue reading →

Posted in South Yorkshire Supertram | Comments Off on Overhead line problems cause Sheffield service change

What’s New on British Trams Online? 8th October 2023

Posted on Sunday 8 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

This week photos come from Crich Tramway Village’s Tram Weekend which took place in September:

Continue reading →

Posted in Crich Tramway Village, Event Reviews, Site News | Comments Off on What’s New on British Trams Online? 8th October 2023

Winners announced at Global Light Rail Awards

Posted on Saturday 7 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

The annual Global Light Rail Awards took place on 4th October in London with systems and individuals across the world celebrating their success over the past 12 months. As the name suggests these are Global awards and as such it isn’t only systems in the British Isles who were up for the awards and many of the winners came from overseas this year, including the “Operator of the Year” award which went to Doha, but that’s not to say there wasn’t a reason for systems here to also have a cause of celebrate about things.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Docklands Light Railway, Edinburgh Trams, Nottingham Express Transit, Tyne and Wear Metro, West Midlands Metro | Comments Off on Winners announced at Global Light Rail Awards

Around the World in Trams: Riga 88025

Posted on Saturday 7 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

In this edition of “Around the World in Trams” we are back in Riga, Latvia to take a look at a tram converted for use by the engineering department.

Continue reading →

Posted in Around the World in Trams | Comments Off on Around the World in Trams: Riga 88025

Emotional visit to Crich for former tram conductor

Posted on Saturday 7 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

Dennis Roberts made an emotional trip to the Crich Tramway Village on Tuesday 26th September. Dennis, 91, was a conductor on the trams in Leeds and met his wife Margaet on the trams in 1954 so the visit brought back memories from him of his youth.

Continue reading →

Posted in Crich Tramway Village | 1 Comment

Midland Metro Alliance’s Skills lead receives education award

Posted on Saturday 7 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

Rose Rees, Midland Metro Alliance’s Head of Engagement and Skills, has been recognised for her work in helping to inspire the next generation into careers in construction. Rose was recognised at the prestigious Institution of Civil Engineers West Midlands Awards where she was rewarded for her efforts to promote construction as an inclusive industry to schools and colleges in the region.

Continue reading →

Posted in West Midlands Metro | Comments Off on Midland Metro Alliance’s Skills lead receives education award

In Pictures: Heaton Park Tramway End of Season Gala

Posted on Friday 6 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

Having started their season at the end of March with an event seeing Blackpool 619 officially relaunched into service, Sunday 1st October saw Manchester’s Heaton Park Tramway mark the end of the season with another special event. Unsurprisingly, it was called the End of Season Gala and whilst things didn’t quite go according to the planned plan an enjoyable event was again provided by the volunteers at the tramway.

Continue reading →

Posted in Event Reviews, Heaton Park Tramway | Comments Off on In Pictures: Heaton Park Tramway End of Season Gala

In Pictures: Its elementary as Sherlock Holmes returns and Picardy Place island reopens

Posted on Friday 6 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

This article is another case of us preparing an article to be published whilst away on holiday and then things changing so it was more or less out of date before it was even published! The last part of the first series of “Stop by Stop: Edinburgh Trams” featured Picardy Place and we mentioned in that article that things were a bit constricted around the stop with public realm works ongoing at the traffic island – and then it reopened with the Sherlock Holmes statue put in place too! We bring things up-to-date with this pictorial article.

Continue reading →

Posted in Edinburgh Trams | Comments Off on In Pictures: Its elementary as Sherlock Holmes returns and Picardy Place island reopens

Picture in Time: Blackpool OMOs 7 & 10

Posted on Friday 6 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

This week “Picture in Time” moves from 1977 to 1978 as we take another look at the Blackpool Tramway back in the 1970s.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Picture in Time | Comments Off on Picture in Time: Blackpool OMOs 7 & 10

In Pictures: One out, one in on the West Midlands Metro

Posted on Thursday 5 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

After a period where tram movements to and from the West Midlands Metro had been fairly quiet (its all relative when you’re used to very regular movements!) that has changed over the past couple of days. Wednesbury Depot has seen one Urbos3 head off for storage whilst a brand new Urbos100 has been delivered from Spain.

Continue reading →

Posted in West Midlands Metro | Comments Off on In Pictures: One out, one in on the West Midlands Metro

In Pictures: Midweek opening at the East Anglia Transport Museum

Posted on Thursday 5 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

As well as the more popular Sunday opening the East Anglia Transport Museum opens on all Thursdays during the operating season with the usual mix of trams, trolleybuses and the railway all running. One such opening was on Thursday 21st September when Bryan Grint also caught up with some of the preparations for the Trolleybus Weekend starting just a couple of days later.

Continue reading →

Posted in East Anglia Transport Museum | Comments Off on In Pictures: Midweek opening at the East Anglia Transport Museum

Could HS2 northern leg cancellation provide a boost for trams?

Posted on Wednesday 4 October 2023 by Gareth Prior

As had been widely predicted, Wednesday 4th October saw UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirm that the northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester would be cancelled after the continued increase in costs. The rights and wrongs of this decision – said to be made because of the huge increase in costs for the construction of the line – are for others to comment on as it doesn’t fit within the remit of this website but as part of the announcement there was the suggestion that the money saved from not investing in HS2 would be made available for other transport projects outside of London – including the possibility that the much vaunted Leeds tram system may be back on the agenda.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway, General, Manchester Metrolink, Nottingham Express Transit, South Yorkshire Supertram, West Midlands Metro | 9 Comments