A new tramstop in Manchester? Welcome Sleighill!

Posted on Wednesday 4 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink and the Bee Network are getting into the Christmas spirit with Santa taking over a tramstop in Manchester City Centre and giving it a festive makeover. Throughout November and December, Shudehill will be known as Sleighill as part of the Bee Network’s campaign to get visitors to the city to use public transport to get around.

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Tyne and Wear Metro continues to suffer from train reliability

Posted on Wednesday 4 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

Commuters on the Tyne and Wear Metro have continued to suffer with a reduced service as the aging “life-expired” original Metrocars continue to struggle with reliability. Although it has reached the stage where it isn’t a big surprise to regular travellers when some services are cancelled, things became more newsworthy on Tuesday 26th November when a quarter of trainsets were unavailable in the morning rush-hour.

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Out and About: South Yorkshire Supertram – June 2024

Posted on Wednesday 4 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

It is time for another edition of “Out and About” as we head to the Middlewood terminus of South Yorkshire Supertram’s Yellow route.

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A trip to… Blackpool Tramway

Posted on Tuesday 3 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

This article takes us to the Fylde Coast for a selection of images taken over a long weekend between Friday 22nd and Sunday 24th November. We feature both the modern trams running the core service as well as a heritage tram on a Coastal Tour. Photos come from Stuart Cooke.

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TfGM confirm new Managing Director

Posted on Tuesday 3 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

Steve Warrener has been confirmed as the new permanent Managing Director of Transport for Greater Manchester. He had been in the role on an interim basis since January 2024 and will be responsible for the day-to-day running of an organisation that from 2025 will have an annual expenditure of £1 billion.

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Sustainability benefits of light rail highlighted by UKTram

Posted on Tuesday 3 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

The role light rail in the UK is playing in delivering sustainable, carbon-neutral transport for the future has been highlighted by UKTram at a recent seminar organised by the Permanent Way Institution (PWI) in Nottingham.

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Out and About: Edinburgh Trams – Taylor Swift on the trams

Posted on Tuesday 3 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

This edition of “Out and About” is again in Edinburgh as we take a look at a plain full wrap.

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A trip to… Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Monday 2 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

Sunday 24th November was yet another busy day on the Edinburgh Trams system with Scotland taking on Australia in an autumn rugby international at Murrayfield Stadium. A capacity crowd of 76,000 saw Scotland overcome their visitors 27-13 and obviously that crowd needed to get there and what better way to do that than travel by tram! Roy Calderwood was out to capture some images of the trams and crowds in the city centre.

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Supertram staff raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of colleague

Posted on Monday 2 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

Staff at South Yorkshire Supertram have raised £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of a much-loved colleague. Matt Orange passed away from cancer earlier this year and now thanks to the generosity and dedication the cancer charity will benefit as they aim to ensure than no-one faces cancer alone.

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Trams &: Blackpool 619 & buses

Posted on Monday 2 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

“Trams &” returns for December and in this edition we’re in Heaton Park, Manchester.

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Out and About: Beamish – June 2024

Posted on Monday 2 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

A heritage tram edition of “Out and About” for you today as we find some new photo opportunities at Beamish.

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Manchester Metrolink Then & Now: Market Street

Posted on Sunday 1 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

Same location as last week for this edition of “Manchester Metrolink Then & Now” but we look in a different direction.

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LRSSB outline plans for full RIDDOR integration

Posted on Sunday 1 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

Senior figures in the UK light rail sector have recently heard from the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board (LRSSB) how work to incorporate statutory health and safety reports into a fully integrated light rail incident database is progressing well.

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Out and About: Edinburgh Trams – Saughton

Posted on Sunday 1 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

Throughout December we will be looking back at photos from 2024 as our “Out and About” series continues. In this edition we are at Saughton on the original section of the Edinburgh Trams network.

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Tram of the Year 2024 – nominations open!

Posted on Sunday 1 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

As December arrives it can only mean one thing (well, it probably means quite a lot of things!) – its time to launch the British Trams Online Tram of the Year contest for 2024! Regular readers of this website will know exactly what that means, but for the rest of you read on to find out more. Once again this year we will be looking to name “Tram (Heritage)”, “Tram (Modern)”, “Tramway/Museum”, “Tramway (Modern)” and “Event” of the Year. The next seven days or so is your chance to put forward nominees to make the final shortlist ahead of voting in December/January.

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Advent Calendars 2024 – available now!

Posted on Sunday 1 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

Our 2024 Advent Calendars are now online! Once again we bring you another 48 photos in the lead-up to Christmas – 24 heritage trams and 24 modern trams. Head to http://www.britishtramsonline.co.uk/advent.html to find links for the two Advent Calendars. New images will generally be uploaded the evening before.

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What’s New on British Trams Online? 1st December 2024

Posted on Sunday 1 December 2024 by Gareth Prior

This week our main photographic offering comes from Blackpool:

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A trip to… Edinburgh Trams in the snow

Posted on Saturday 30 November 2024 by Gareth Prior

Storm Bert gave all sorts of different weather across the UK, whether that was strong winds, heavy rain or in some cases snow. Edinburgh fell into the final category with Saturday 23rd November seeing some snow fall and giving the chance to capture the trams in operation through the white stuff. The trams were incredibly busy on this day, in no small part down to the fact that in the morning Lothian Buses withdrew their vehicles back to depot (there were no buses in the city from around 1040 until approximately 1430). This collection of photos takes a look at some of the trams in the city centre on this day, with thanks to Roy Calderwood.

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Around the World in Trams: Milan 1818

Posted on Saturday 30 November 2024 by Gareth Prior

We have one last shot from San Francisco in 2002 in this “Around the World in Trams” but this time we move away from the PCCs.

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The Western Train from North Station – welcome the Blackpool Express!

Posted on Saturday 30 November 2024 by Gareth Prior

Earlier this autumn, Blackpool’s illuminated Western Train made history when it ran on test on the North Station extension (the first feature car to travel on the extension) with Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours teasing at the time that this was ahead of something special they were working on. And now that something special has been revealed – it’s the Blackpool Express!

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