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| News...April 2004...News...April 2004...News...April 2004...News This Page was last updated Sunday 25 April 2004 |
| All the news carried on these pages is done so in good faith and the source is always quoted, normally with hyperlinks. If you have a correction to give us on a news story or have any additional news that can be added do not hestiate to email us . We are grateful for those people who have given us permission to use their images and news on this page. |
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For all previous news pages click here to go to the new News Index page which provides links to news dating back to September 2002. Photos on this page: Blackpool Balloon 720 showing off part of its new all over advert (added 4 April 2004) Blackpool Brush 636 showing services back on the Thornton Gate-Fleetwood section of track (added 11 April 2004) |
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News In Brief Manchester: Metrolink were offering free travel to all children showing on their way to the Thomas and Friends All Aboard! show at the MEN Arena next to Victoria Station. All the youngsters had to do was show their show ticket to the inspector from Saturday 24 April morning to the evening of Sunday 25. (25/4/04 - GMPTE) ------------------------------------------------- Blackpool: Set your videos! The follow up show to Channel 4's Salvage Squad on Coronation 304 is to be shown this Monday (26 April) at 8pm BST. The show will be a recap and will feature what has happened to the tram since last years version. Filming work took place last September. (24/4/04) Croydon: The annual Croydon tram treasure hunt will take place on Thursday 10 June to raise money for charity. It will see teams of 3 travelling around Croydon's Trams and solving cryptic clues to find a treasure chest of prizes. Phone 020 8686 2233 for more information or to book your place. (24/4/04 - Croydon Guardian) DLR: Engineering works are taking place this weekend (24-25 April) which means buses replace trains between Bank/Tower Gateway and Westferry in the mornings. The bus will operate from Bank/Tower Gateway and Blackwall via Westfeery and All Saints and a valid DLR ticket is required before boarding the bus. The work continues until 11am both mornings only. (24/4/04 - Docklands Light Railway) Manchester: 1020 has been reunited with its Lancashire Fusilier name whilst 1007 is experimenting with recorded stop annoucements in a female voice. Metrolink have also relaunched their website and it does look much improved with a new news section and the latest service disruptions now listed. You can also sign up for email updates on any service disruptions. It is also possible to buy monthly and quarterly tickets on line with the chance to win a prize of unlimited free travel for a year available if you purchase one in the first month. (24/4/04 - Gordon Ferguson) ------------------------------------------------- Croydon: Several Temporary Speed Restrictions have been put into place on Tramlink due to wet beds which will require digging out and packing with fresh ballast. The areas affected are: near Addington village mergency crossover (east and westbound), bottom of Gravel Hill (both ways), by the Lloyd Park Crossover (both directions) and Sandilands Junction-Addiscombe (eastbound only). These are causing delays to some of the services on the network, notably Line 3 (New Addington). (18/4/04 - Unofficial Croydon Tramlink) ------------------------------------------------- Blackpool: Trams have now returned to the stretch of track from Thornton Gate to Fleetwood after the completion of the trackwork. The first trams to traverse the track on Wednesday (7 April) was Centenary 647 followed by Balloon 711 (becoming the first double decker to Fleetwood for around 18 months). A new interim summer timetable was introduced on Thursday dated until late May. The running time is now back to the standard 63 minutes and features a 20 minute Starr Gate-Fleetwood service interspersed with a 20 minute Starr Gate-Cleveleys service during the day. The first double deck service tram to Fleetwood was Balloon 726. (10/4/04 - Paul Turner from Blackpool Transport) ------------------------------------------------- Midland Metro: 05 was named Sister Dora on Tuesday 6 April at Wednesbury Parkway. The naming was undertaken by the Mayor of Walsall Councillor Arthur Bentley. Sister Dora influenced the design of the first purpose built hospital in Walsall. In addition 06 has been named Alan Garner after the late Wolverhampton Councillor. (10/4/04 - icBirmingham, Jeff Hall & Fylde Tramway News) Sheffield: Further to the report 2 weeks ago about the application of a commemorative livery for a tram to celebrate 10 years of Supertram, it has been confirmed that the tram is 110. The centre section of the tram has received it and it states "Let Congestion Pass You By". (10/4/04 - Fylde Tramway News) ------------------------------------------------- Birkenhead: Lisbon 730, the latest addition to the Birkenhead Heritage Tramways collection, arrived on 14 February. Work is now underway to regauge it to standard gauge as part of the restoration process. In addition the 2004 opening dates have been announced, as follows: Summer - Saturday & Sunday 1pm-5pm, Winter (Nov-March) - Saturday & Sunday 12pm-4pm, School Holidays (Easter, Spring half term & Summer) - Wednesday to Sunday 1pm-5pm. Also open on Monday bank holidays. (4/4/04 - MTPS) Croydon: The Oyster PrePay has still not been launched on Tramlink, missing its own 7 March deadline. The system currently remains as live for testing purposes only although there are no signs to this effect. The Beckenham Junction line will be closed for 2 weeks in August so that the problems of the track through the Country Park especially the bend near to Harrington Road can be resolved. (4/4/04 - Croydon Tramlink) ------------------------------------------------- |
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MORE REACTION TO NAO REPORT Sunday 25 April 2004 After Friday's National Audit Office report on Light Rail in the UK further reaction from the systems mentioned has emerged with both Manchester and Nottingham adding their views. One of the key points of the report was the lack of integration with other forms of public transport but a spokesman for the Greater Manchester PTE (GMPTE) told the Manchester Evening News: "The main Metrolink station is next to the main bus terminal in Piccadilly Gardens, there are close connections with heavy rail stations at Deansgate, Piccadilly and Victoria and there are purpose-built interchanges at Bury, Altrincham and Eccles." Meanwhile down in Nottingham the UK's newest system responding with a statement saying that the reports main recommendations had already been implemented into the Nottingham Express Transit system. They say that the key weaknesses identified in the report are features of their trams especially with integration as they are the only UK system to have the city's main bus operator as part of the tram operating company. This has allowed feeder buses to be added to the network rather than competing against the tram and also the development of joint bus/train/tram tickets, one of the only available in this country. They also mention their considerable park and ride sites with over 3,000 spaces and the segregation the trams have from other traffic as well as the priority trams receive at junctions and lights. The NET Project leader, Pat Armstrong said: "We feel we can draw some comfort from this report which shows we have learnt from earlier experiences and are doing the right things to make tram systems viable." It should also be mentioned that although a lot of the national media have picked up on the negative vibes from the report there are a lot of positives in there with the recommendations for how to plan and develop light rail lines in the future. The report I put here yesterday may just have gone a bit too much on the negative, I just wanted to clear that up!!! Source: Manchester Online, Nottingham Express Transit, This is Nottingham LIGHT RAIL SCHEMES COST TOO MUCH Saturday 24 April 2004 Yesterday (Friday 23 April) the National Audit Office (NAO) released a document entitled Improving Public Transport in England through Light Rail. The main document runs to 47 pages long and I have to confess that I have not as yet read the whole thing but the main points have been picked up by both national and local media in the UK. The report is by the head of the NAO, Sir John Bourn and has a mixture of postive and negative messages about light rail systems in the UK. It says that there have been significant benefits to passengers with fast, frequent and reliable services enhancing the image of cities but on the minus side only 7 have been built since 1980 (it includes the Tyne and Wear Metro as well as the DLR in its figures) and they are not attracting as many passengers or delivering as many benefits as they should, several are running at a financial loss and construction costs are rising. Speaking at the report's launch Sir John Bourn said: "Light rail systems have improved the quality and choice of public transport, by offering fast, reliable and frequent services. Systems need to be better integrated with other modes of transport, however, to attract more passengers and help to reduce urban congestion. And if more systems are to secure private sector investment, construction costs must be brought down and operations placed on a sound financial footing." The report says that the main barriers for further light rail expansion in this country are affordability and value for money and that the costs of the proposed new systems are higher than the costs of existing systems and are still rising. It is also critical of the systems with 4 reported to be running at a financial lossmainly because passenger numbers and hence revenues have been well below those forecasted. It makes particular mention of Midland Metro (38% down on passenger numbers) and the Stagecoach Supertram (45% down) and says that the losses occurring have discouraged the private sector to invest in new schemes. The report goes on to say that the systems are not fully integrated with other forms of public transport (especially buses) with through ticketing arrangements being inadequate and not enough use has been made on free services like park and ride. It also claims that little impact has been made on road congestion with the light rail schemes opening. The report recommends that the Department for Transport (DFT) should work alongside the industry to reduce the costs of light rail systems through the greater standardisation in the design of systems, vehicles and the method of construction. The DFT should also seek promoters to integrate the schemes better with other modes of transport, encourage passengers to use their systems through things such as Park and Ride and make journey times and speeds more appetising by giving trams priority at all junctions. Finally the report says that the system of getting approval for schemes takes far too long with at least 2 years normally required to get the relevant legal powers but it does say that extra staff resources have been put in place to speed up this process. The report has of course seen reaction from across the UK with Alistair Darling the Secretary of State for Transport telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme "One of my big concerns is that the costs of these new schemes have doubled in some cases. If costs are going to carry on doubling then any government is quite right to say 'well, let's have a look at it and let's see if there aren't other alternatives If we are going to build these things then we have to make sure that we get value for money from them." Across the floor in the Commons Conservative MP Edward Leigh (Commons public accounts committee chairman) said: "The Department of Transport has taken a hands-off approach compared to our continental competitors. The department has allowed tram systems to be built that have no through ticketing arrangements, unco-ordinated timetables, and trams have not been given priority over road traffic." On the whole the promoters of the UK light rail scene were happy with the report with Centro Director General Rob Donald saying: "It's good the report recognises that you cannot heap the risk of getting passenger numbers to certain levels on to the private sector without that being reflected in construction costs." Meanwhile up in Sheffield (another system to come out of the report badly) Roy Wicks of the SYPTE said: "If you look at the original forecast in the late 1980s the demand is less than expected. It takes a long time to design these schemes and by the time we opened the system in 1994 the bus market had changed, there had been a decline in the steel industry and changes in the land market which all had an effect. We revised our forecast in the mid 1990s and our passenger figures are now broadly in line with this revision of 14 million passengers. We currently have 12 million. Supertram started badly but now its performance is much better." The final reaction received so far comes from the proposed Mersey Tram scheme who also welcomed the report with a spokesman saying: "We have looked, listened and learned the lessons from tram systems throughout the UK and Europe and applied this to Merseytram Line 1. We have reduced the costs of this scheme by reducing the level of risk to the private sector. Around £170m has been allocated for Line 1 because we have satisfied the Government on the scheme's affordability and value for money." For full details of the report click here for the press release page at the National Audit Office which gives you links to two versions of the report, both of which require Adobe Acrobat as they are PDF files. As this page is written there is also an audio report on the news from BBC News Online Click Here to view the report which is just less than 3 minutes. Source: National Audit Office, BBC News Online, icBirmingham, Sheffield Today & icLiverpool MERSEY TRAM PUBLIC INQUIRY STARTS Saturday 24 April 2004 The Public Inquiry into Mersey Tram Line One started on Tuesday (20 April) at the Foresight Centre under Inspector Chris Tipping and is expected to continue for around 4 weeks until Friday 14 May. The inquiry started on the Tuesday with Mersey Travel giving their evidence with nine representatives appearing before Mr Tipping including the Chief Executive Neil Scales. The main statement to the inquiry from Mersey Travel said: "The Merseytram network is intended to play an essential role in delivering Merseytravel's vision of developing a single integrated public transport network that is accessible to all, and which will support wider economic, social and environmental regeneration. The number of objections received... is normal for projects of this nature, if not slightly fewer than normal. Many concern property issues, which is understandable. Merseytravel is currently discussing the objections with the objectors, with a view to achieving the withdrawal of as many as possible. Many are purely holding objections pending the resolution of outstanding issues." In addition on the opening day the QC for the tram system, Charles George said: "While most of the tram users will transfer from other forms of public transport, about 1m trips a year will be transfers from private car to the tram, no mean achievement in a corridor of exceptionally low car ownership." A number of witnesses from Mersey Travel were also appearing on this day including John Stephens who claimed over 2,000 jobs will be created by the scheme with only 300 of these directly from the tram with the rest being put down to improved tourism in the area. It will also link unemployed people with a further 55,000 jobs in the area as Line One will go through five of the most deprived wards on Merseyside. The day concluded with Neil Scales the Chief Executive telling the inquiry that the previous trolleybus scheme which was objected had helped this tram idea as it meant that every aspect had been studied in depth. It will also revealed that the majority of the funding was already in place with £170 million promised from the government, £25 million from the European Objective 1 programme, £15 million from the North West Development Agency and £18 million from private investors involved in developing areas along the route. Day 2 of the inquiry on Wednesday saw 33 supporters of the scheme give their views including the Liverpool Land Development Company, the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and the Royal Liverpool Hospital. Then on Thursday the Mersey Travel witnesses were due to be cross examined by the QC against the scheme before the remainder of the 4 week inquiry is taken up the 257 objectors to Mersey Tram (down by 15 since originally revealed). The major objectors likely in the case are thought to include: bus operator Glenvale Transport, transport expert Professor Lewis Leslie, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, Liverpool Vision, Knowsley Council and the North West Development Agency. There is also a major objection to be heard from Liverpool City Council who are unhappy with the design, the possibility of costs rising and damage to historic buildings and streets. The council leader Mike Storey said this week that Mersey Travel must reach an agreement with them within one week or their objection would not be removed before they are scheduled to speak at the inquiry. He said: "If we don't secure the agreement we will have to object because we cannot have tram cables attached to listed buildings like St George's Hall." Replying to these statements coming from the council a Mersey Travel spokesman said: "As far as the heritage issue is concerned, it's our city too and we do not want to damage it. There is no suggestion that wires will be attached to St George's Hall. We are in constant contact with Liverpool Council at the moment in order to iron out the details, but that is all there is to be decided - details." The council and Mersey Travel executives were due to meet on Friday to thrash out the details of the demands and it was expected that the 7 day deadline would then be given by the councillors to Mersey Travel. In addition to the council's main objections they want assurances that parts of the Mersey Tram network would be closed temporaily so public spaces can be used for special events and they are also not convinced that the tram plan sits well with future traffic plans. It should be remebered that this is not the first time the council have complained about the Mersey Tram scheme as earlier this year they demanded reassurances that the building work was completed by the end of 2007 so as not to get in the way of the Capital of Culture status in 2008. Many of the other objectors are individuals objecting to trees being cut down and to parking spaces outside their homes being hit. The inquiry continues every day from 10am-5pm. Source: icLiverpool & BBC News Online MIDLAND METRO CITY CENTRE EXTENSION IN DOUBT Saturday 24 April 2004 It is now nearly 3 months since the Public Inquiry into the Snow Hill to Edgbaston Five Ways Midland Metro extension concluded when Inspector Tony Jeapes gave a warning. He said that if the trouble with the buses was not solved he would be unable to advise the government to accept the scheme. The problem stems from the fact that bus services will have to be displaced from Corporation Street and Bull Street and this could affect 50,000 passengers. At the close of the inquiry Mr Jeapes said: "My understanding is unless this agreement between Travel West Midlands, Centro and the city council into the bus mall is agreed, the Birmingham city centre extension could not go ahead." He gave the parties involved a deadline of 31 March and this has now passed with a spokeswoman from the city council commenting: "Discussions are continuing with Centro and Travel West Midlands. At present there is no time scale I can give for when a plan will be completed." In addition Mike Barton of Centro was upbeat saying: "Discussions are taking place. We do not believe the deadline of work starting in 2005 is in jeopardy." whilst Phil Bateman of Travel West Midlands (operator of the buses and the Metro) adding: "We are still waiting to see the outcome of the work the city council and everyone has been putting in." Source: icBirmingham MIDLAND METRO PUBLIC INQUIRY FINISHES Saturday 24 April 2004 Centro officials are hopeful that a £139 million expansion of the Midland Metro system to Dudley and Brierly Hill will get the go-ahead. This follows the completion of the public inquiry to the scheme which saw most objections withdrawn before being heard at the 4 week hearing. Councillor Roger Horton, the leader member for Metro on the West Midland PTA said: "I'm confident we have demonstrated a very positive case. Extending the Midland Metro is a crucial step in providing the high quality public transport worthy of a major region. Once this system is running, moving around the Black Country will be so much easier for everyone." Much of the 23 minute journey would be a disused railway line and will leave the current line near to Wednesbury and will have 13 stops including 4 park and ride sites and will go via Great Bridge, Dudley Port, Dudley town centre, the Waterfront and Merry Hill before terminating near the High Street in Brierley Hill. Source: icBirmingham LEEDS CONTINUE THEIR SUPERTRAM FIGHT Saturday 24 April 2004 The West Yorkshire PTA councillors have given approval for Metro (the PTE) to continue its works to find a solution to the current funding issues on the Supertram project. In addition to investigating any additional transport modes which could be used, as advised to by Alistair Darling, they will also be looking at ways they could restructure the finance of the tram system to cut costs down. Metro Chairman, Councillor Mick Lyons said: "The way the Government told Metro to fund Supertram, through Private Public Partnership (PPP) funding, required the bidding consortia to build in all their potential operating risks for a 30-year period which has, understandably, pushed up the cost of the scheme. By separating the construction and maintenance elements of the network, from its operation, as we originally wanted to do, we believe there is potential for reducing costs. And the good news is that the two bidding consortia have indicated that they are fully committed to work with us on the restructured financing to find a way of enabling the project to go ahead." He added that this shows how commited they are to the Supertram scheme and that there is now way they will be giving up on the scheme which they see as vital to the future of Leeds. Source: West Yorkshire Metro SUPPORT MIDLAND METRO PLEA FROM COUNCIL Saturday 24 April 2004 Birmingham City Council leader Sir Albert Bore has made a plea for the critics of Midland Metro extensions to get behind the scheme or the city risks losing the fight. He said he was disappointed at the attitude of the campaigners against the schemes and his comments came at the same time as the council cabinet agreed in principle to support new routes from Five Ways to Quinton, the city centre-Great Barr and the city centre-Eastside and Birmingham International Airport. He told the Birmingham Post: "Everyone was saying the city needed to move forward and we needed a transportation infrastructure befitting a city of this size. It doesn't seem we have learned the lessons of the debate in The Post. If we make a mess of it this time we will rue the day because the opportunity will not come back." He made this comments just before a major transportation conference was held in the city by the Post and he also mentioned again his belief that future lines would have to go underground through the city centre. At the conference David Bull, the head of Transport Strategy on the city council backed these comments saying: "I would like to see business people come out in favour of the metro rather than sitting on the fence. We are asking the Government for extra funding and that will only be given if they determine our scheme offers value for money. Our plans will have to demonstrate they will take congestion off the roads and a significant amount of people will pay to use the metro." Mr Bull was joined by Rob Donald, the Director General of Centro in this call, who said: "The business community wants to see motor-ways widened and major heavy rail projects, but the money is not available out of the £1 billion for that. The metro we have developed is a system that will be able to deliver people where they want to get to." Source: icBirmingham MYSTERIOUS HOLE CAUSES TROUBLE FOR METRO Sunday 18 April 2004 A mysterious 9 foot wide hole appeared underneath the track on Midland Metro near to the Jewellery Quarter. Midland Metro services had to be abandoned between Benson Road and Snow Hill on Tuesday 13 April at around 5pm when the discovery was made of the hole. Geology experts were called onto the scene to see whether they could shed any light on it and it appears that the conclusions they came to were that is was either down to water erosion or past mining activity in the area. Phil Bateman, the spokesman for Midland Metro, said at the time of the closure "At about 5pm we made the decision to halt all the trams after we discovered a void underneath the metro track. We had some geology experts down there and, with public safety being our foremost concern, we decided to close the track between Snow Hill and Soho." Trams did not resume on this stretch of track again until 6.30am on Thursday 15 April after the hole had been filled in and during this time extra buses were laid on between the affected stations as well as Central Trains services accepting Midland Metro tickets as far as West Bromwich, as part of a Travel West Midlands/Midland Metro/Central Trains agreement. After the line had reopened Mr Bateman told BBC News Online: "I know that the original decision we took to suspend services on Tuesday evening was the correct decision to take. Safety has to be the number one priority, and there was real cause for concern at the time. But the good news is that we are once again running a full service, and we hope to swiftly get back to operating the reliable service that we have established a reputation for delivering." Engineers are now inspecting drains near to the affected area to see whether there is a chance further holes could develop. Source: icBirmingham & BBC News Online NET ENJOYS FIRST SUCCESSFUL MONTH Sunday 18 April 2004 Well over half a million journeys have been undertaken on NET since it launched over a month ago. Approximately 540,000 journeys have been officially logged since the system commenced operation on 9 March with the real figure possibly as high as 750,000 as some have not been logged due to faulty ticket machines, fare evasion and joint bus and tram tickets. NET are particularly happy over the number of integrated tickets which have been purchased as its shows that the bus and tram networks are already working well together. The Nottingham Tram Consortium are confident that they are on course for their target of 8 million passengers before the end of the first year with Colin Lea the Marketing Manager saying: "Every other tramway has built up its service level. In Sheffield, the (year) estimate was five million from the first few months. It went to eight million by the end of the year." They have also admitted that the figures will have been boosted by people trying the trams as a novelty during the first weeks of opertion but they believe regular passengers will soon replace these regular travellers as the word of mouth grows about how good the trams are. At the same time it has been revealed that passengers have been giving their views on what they like and dislike on the tram system with people impressed by the speed and frequency of the trams saving their time on journeys. They are also happy with the bargain £2 day ticket for unlimited travel, the access for buggies and wheelchairs, the late night services, the cleaniness of the trams and the ease of using the new website. On the minus side the Passenger Information Displays have come under attack for only having a display on one side and the lack of poles within the trams to hang onto. In replay the Consortium confirmed that they are to make the PIDs double sided and that extra poles were on order. As for the future the Park and Ride sites along the tramway are being looked at for expansion with all of them starting to become more and more popular with Wilkinson Street also enjoying increaed patronage. There is a also a plan in 6 months for extra services once more crew have been trained with trams likely to run every 6 minutes on the busier sections for most of the day. Colin Lea concluded by saying: "We are encouraged by the first month of operation. Already many hundreds of thousands of people have enjoyed the benefits of NET - some days were so popular that we ran extra trams over and above the timetable. We're pleased with the reliability and performance of the trams and we are committed to improving our service even further. We are listening to passengers’ comments to help us with this.” Source: This is Nottingham & Nottingham Express Transit £9.5 MILLION ALREADY SPENT ON SOUTH HANTS LRT Sunday 18 April 2004 It has been revealed that £9.5 million has already been spent on planning and developing the South Hampshire Light Rapid Transit scheme despite a question mark hanging over its future. Hampshire County Councillor Keith Estlin, who is in charge of the scheme, said: "'Before you go into a huge scheme like this you have to have studies and reports and planning inquiries. All this costs a considerable amount of money." The concern over the delays from the government to give a final yes or no to the scheme is also growing in nearby Gosport where congestion is increasing at a great rate on the A32 with no Plan B to ease these congestion. Gosport Councillor, Dennis Wright told the The News: "'Gosport is being throttled by the problem of the A32. It's time we saw some action but we have been told nothing will happen." Source: Portsmouth Today ANOTHER MP MOANS OVER METRO EXTENSIONS Sunday 18 April 2004 The Labour MP for Perry Bar, Khalid Mahmood has joined the complaints against extending Midland Metro through his constituency saying that the proposal was too expensive, environmentally damaging and was drawn up without proper consultation with local residents. Mr Mahmood was due to speak at a public meeting on Tuesday against the proposals and he told the Birmingham Post: "They are trying to do this project without consulting residents. It will involve carving up the expressways and blocking traffic coming in to the city centre. But there has been no real consideration of the alternatives. If you are bidding for a significant and expensive project like this, you need to consider the cheaper options too." He also said that the cost of travelling on Midland Metro would be more expensive than the buses and that it would make crossing the road difficult. He went on to say: "I am all in favour of bidding for money for projects in Birmingham, but the council will have to pay 25 per cent of it and I don't want to see that coming out of the budget for services in my constituency. It will be damaging to the environment too. This scheme is a white elephant and the authority must think again." Of course Centro spoke out against Mr Mahmood's viewpoint with a spokesman saying: "There have been brochures outlining the plans and questionnaires sent to residents plus a number of public meetings. The response from that area was overwhelmingly positive." Source: icBirmingham CROYDON TRAMLINK AND CENTRALE Sunday 18 April 2004 A brand new shopping centre opened in Croydon Town Centre at the start of April and Croydon Tramlink runs right past its front doors in Tamworth Road. But at the moment trams will not be stopping at there because of a debate between the parties involved although construction has begun on building a new stop there. All the parties involved seem to be blaming each other with Roger Harding the General Manager of Tramlink telling the Croydon Advertiser: "We are very keen to see the stop in use, we have been working with Centrale management and TfL, and we are keen to see this position resolved. It's not actually as simple as stopping every tram there. That would mean stopping a tram every three minutes and it would cause significant disruption to the service and mean changing the timetable. It needs to be looked into in more detail." Meanwhile a spokesman for the local council told the same publication: "We are committed to trying to get the new stop in place as soon as possible. TfL is carrying out a review of what action needs to be taken to create this new stop, and we eagerly await their conclusions." Now with this crazy situation coming to a head Stephen Parascandolo, who runs the Unofficial Croydon Tramlink website has started a campaign to try and get all these parties together to reach a situation which will see trams stopping at Centrale. An article has been prepared on the subject which has been sent to the local media and local politicians. He has also encouraged people to write to their local politicans and papers in order to get the situation sorted out. One question remains if Manchester Metrolink have been able to add the Shudehill Interchange stop into the timetable with little fuss why can't Tramlink get this sorted? Source: icSouthLondon & Croydon Tramlink NET LOOKS FORWARD WITH NEW LINES Sunday 18 April 2004 Plans for the NET extension to Clifton are due to go before the Council on Monday (19 April) to decide whether the plans should go to the government for final approcal. The extension is seen as being essential to tackle any future traffic congestion but it could see a wildlife site near to Wilford being built upon and would also need special anti-noise fencing to protect residents between Wilford Lane and Ruddington Lane and this has caused environmental groups and local residents to complain. The NET Tram project co-ordinator Pat Armstrong said: "Our task has been to minimise the environmental impact in planning the routes. A large proportion of the Clifton route that has been chosen - which is significantly segregated from roads - makes use of an old railway alignment, in accordance with planning guidelines.". However this has not been accepted by residents with one complaining that the sale of his home has fallen through twice because of the tram proposals and he has now decided to remove it from the market. Janice Bradleycor of the Notts Wildlife Trust was not impressed with the plans either telling the Nottingham Evening Post: "If the route put forward is as we last saw it then we will be fighting that at a public inquiry." If the meeting is a success on Monday they will be presented to the Department for Transport who will decide whether they stand up financially before a decision is made by Nottingham's councils as to whether to apply for a Transport and Works Act. This would be followed by a public inquiry, likely to be held next Spring and then construction should be able to commence at the end of 2006 or the start of 2007. All of this of course if things go according to plan and light rail projects have the habit of not doing that in the UK. Source: This is Nottingham |
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Trams have now returned to the track from Thornton Gate to Fleetwood and here we see Brush 636 at Copse Road on 8 April 2004, the first day of public services on the line. Photo: Alan Robson |
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METRO DERAILMENT CAUSES DISRUPTION Sunday 11 April 2004 The first derailment since opening has happened on the Midland Metro network. The incident occurred at 6.25am when a tram was approaching Snow Hill station from Wolverhampton and the front wheels came off the track. Neither the staff or passengers on board the tram were injured and they were able to disembark and walk to the platform. Phil Bateman of Midland Metro said that it was likely a power failure was to blame for the derailment and he said: "We have launched an inquiry into what happened and to make sure it doesn't happen again." Delays and cancellations happened on Metro services for the rest of the day whilst repairs were undertaken with services terminating at St Paul's and Central Trains services providing a link to Snow Hill from the Jewelley Quarter. Source: icBirmingham & BBC News Online BLACKPOOL TRAMWAY UPDATE Saturday 10 April 2004 Two new TV stars will be on your screens from June after Balloons 700 and 703 were used for filming on 11 March afternoon at Tower and North Pier respectively. The work was for an advert for internet provided Isprovider. Railcoach 680 remains in the depot awaiting the application of a new livery after panelling attention whilst Frigate 736 was expected to have been transferred to the paint shop by the time you read this. As for the major trackwork north of Thornton Gate this was coming to a close at the start of the month and it was expected that trams should be back running to Fleetwood at Easter time. Meanwhile the Fylde Tramway News reports that the TSO (FTS) Blackpool Tramcar Fund need £3000 in order to spend on the restoration on Toastrack 166. The tram has now been allocated workshop space and time but without the money work can not take place and then it is not known when time would permit this work. For details on how you can help see here where we list details of all known tram projects and ways you can give money. This info has come from the Fylde Tramway News which is the only way you can get monthly news on the Blackpool Tramway. To get this become a member of the Fylde Tramway Society where you can also attend monthly meetings and tours of the system. Source: Fylde Tramway News TRAM DRIVER SUED BY MUGGER Saturday 10 April 2004 Michael Tierney, who was run over by a tram as he lay in the street following a mugging, is to sue the driver who was in charge of the tram in Manchester. Harry Roche drove over the man in Manchester city centre nearly 4 years ago which caused Mr Tierney to loose a leg and to go onto life support. The writ, which has been issued at the High Court in London, says that Mr Roche failed to use his emergency brakes when he saw what he believed to be a bag of rubbush on the line ahead. Mr Tierney is reported to want £200,000 in compensation for the incident which happened near to the G-Mex centre on 18 November 2000. The writ also accuses Mr Roche of failing to keep a proper look out, failing to heed the body on the line and disregarding the danger. In addition Serco Metrolink are accused of failing to tell him not to drive the tram over material on the track, failing him to warn him of the dangers of material on the track and failing to tell him to use emergency braking if there is a person on the track. A spokesperson for Serco Metrolink said: "This issue is subject to court proceedings and is being dealt with by our insurers and solicitors. We cannot make any further comment because of the matter being sub-judice." Source: Manchester Online NOW MANCHESTER MAKE MONEY PLEA TO GOVERNMENT Saturday 10 April 2004 The Commons Transport Committee is urging Transport Secretary Alistair Darling to hand over millions of pounds to the Greater Manchester PTE to improve services which would include Metrolink extensions. A member of the committee, Manchester MP Graham Stringer, said: "We could have a tram in every street in Manchester. Because the national rail service is eating up so much money the Transport Secretary is under pressure to make massive savings and there is little cash left for such things as the Metrolink extension. This could change if the PTAs get control of some of the £750m cost of running the area's train services." The committee have been impressed by the experiment on Merseyside, where the SRA has handed over responsibility for local transport to the PTA and a private company. They think that this trial could be extended to other areas and crucially they say there should be flexibility so that local transport bosses can switch money away from rail if needed. Source: Manchester Online |
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Currently receiving signwriting for its all over advert for Eclipse at the Pleasure Beach is Blackpool Balloon 720 It you look closely you can see outlines on the tram for further images. The tram is seen outside depot on 2 April 2004. Photo: Alan Robson |
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SCALED DOWN SUPERTRAM EXTENSIONS DISCUSSED Sunday 4 April 2004 Scaled down plans for extending the Stagecoach Supertram network in Sheffield were being discussed by the SYPTA this week. The original plan was for lines to be built extending out to Dore, Hellaby, Ranmoor and Rotherham but these plans have been scaled down due to the likely enormous costs of building the lines and a lack of public interest. It now looks like it has been decided that lines should be built as follows: 1. Rotherham Parkgate 2. Hallamshire Hospital and Sheffield University In addition discussuion was likely to focus on whether an extension to Waverley from both Sheffield and Rotherham could be constructed in the future. They would also look to see whether a network of high quality buses could be used instead of trams. The directo general of SYPTE, Roy Wicks, said: "South Yorkshire's ability to extend the Supertram is now very much governed by affordability. That is why the executive wants to discuss these proposals in more detail with all four South Yorkshire Districts in order to ascertain which, if any, of these proposal should be taken forward." The final decision on what, if any, of the lines should be built is likely to be given in the summer. Of course this news has been met with joy by the anti tram campaigners who have recently published figures showing that congestion has only be cut by a half of a percent in the city centre since the trams started 10 years ago. Rob Foulds said: "We're delighted. We can claim victory but I think we can also claim that had we not exposed the deficiencies of the scheme perhaps things would have gone a different way and a lot of public money would have been wasted on a project that did not have a sound business case." Source: Sheffield Today & Yorkshire Today ANOTHER RTA ON TRAMLINK Sunday 4 April 2004 There was a collison between a car and a tram on the Bingham road crossing in Croydon on Monday (29 March) which involved a man being taken to hospital with head injuries. Rodney Crossman was driving his van when he collided with a tram at around 1.30pm and was then taken to hospital with injuries which were described as non life threatening. It is not yet known what the cause of this accident was and the police are investigating both this incident and the one three weeks ago that we reported last week. Further to that accident it now appears that the man involved jumped the lights and witnesses both on and off the tram have reportedly said that he appeared to be on his mobile phone at the time of the incident. The tram involved was 2537 which suffered damage at the B end and around the buffer cover, but this was quickly fixed and it was back in service by the weekend. Speaking about the incidents Roger Harding, General Manager of Tramlink Croydon said: "We have had a number of incidents at crossings over the years and historically we have never proved any problems with Tramlink - either with our facilities or with the way our drivers operate. Regarding the two recent crossing incidents, nothing so far suggests that trams have been at fault, and we have witness statements to back that conclusion up. But clearly this is subject to a police inquiry." He also said that a campaign is to be launched soon trageted at car drivers safety around trams. Source: icSouthLondon & Unofficial Croydon Tramlink ARRESTS IN TRAM STONING INCIDENTS IN NOTTINGHAM Sunday 4 April 2004 Following several incidents of trams in Nottingham being stoned in the vicinty of Bulwell, two 12 year old boys have been arrested and released on police bail. They were both arrested on Tuesday 16 March and have been ordered to report at the police station again at some point during this month. One of the incidents they have been arrested over occurred during week one of services when a tram had to be removed from service with a broken window. Source: This is Nottingham MORE PROBLEMS ON TRAMLINK WITH LOCAL YOBS Sunday 4 April 2004 On Monday 15 March a driver was assaulted at Birbeck after he went to investigate what he believed to be a bottle stuck in the back door. Then he was confronted by a passenger complaining about his ticket who then proceeded to grab hold of the driver. The driver warned the passenger and returned to his cab and then the tram proceeded with the man disembarking at Avenue Road. The same man re-entered the same tram on its return journey from Beckenham Junction and he was arrested by the British Transport Police. Then just 2 days later two trams had to be taken out of service after stones were thrown smashing windows at Mitcham Junction, the trains were also affected by this stoning. However the yobs in this occasion fled before the police arrived on the scene. Source: Unofficial Croydon Tramlink DISABLED ACCESS CONCERNS EXPRESSED IN NOTTINGHAM Sunday 4 April 2004 Wheelchair users in Nottingham have voiced their concerns over the access they have to the Station Street terminus. This tram station is at the end of a vaiduct with the only access being from either street level and then a lift or from a bridge at the national rail station across the road which has no lift facilities. This has led several wheelchair users to attack the situation with one, Andy Zadora, saying: "A lot of these issues really have to be addressed urgently. I think there should have been some kind of talk between Nottingham station and NET as to how they were going to overcome this problem. I'm very disappointed, I have to be honest." In reply to this criticism Sharon Smith, a manager from Central Trains said: "There's no provision at the moment because it is actually part of the greater Nottingham station master plan to incorporate the tram when it goes through to the East Side. What we're actually asking for is for people to just live with this for the time being - it is only for the time being." However no time concerns are given as to how long people are going to have to live with it. She also admitted that wheelchair users would have to travel an extra 40 yards from the stop to the main entrance of the station in Carrington Street. Source: BBC News Online & This is Nottingham DRIVER ERROR BLAMED FOR NET CLOSE CALL Sunday 4 April 2004 An internal investigation into the near miss on 13 March on NET has seen driver error discovered to be the cause. The driver involved has been disciplined although it has not been confirmed as to what this discipling has involved. Colin Lea the marketing manager said: "We're happy that the processes that are in place worked properly." However the incident is still being investigated by Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) with a spokesman saying: "We are aware of the incident and HMRI are investigating." Source: This is Nottingham |