Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, commented: “'These new carriages represent the delivery of a vital investment in London's transport infrastructure. 'They will play a key role in transporting passengers to the Olympic and Paralympic Games and will provide East London with an improved service able to respond to increasing demand as the area continues to be transformed by sustained development and the expansion of new homes and businesses.”

The vehicles will be manufactured at Bombardier’s Bautzen plant in Germany, with electrical equipment being supplied from Mannheim and bogies at Siegen, also in Germany.

Delivery will take place between autumn 2008 and winter 2009, and after testing they should be entering service by late 2009.
Source: Transport for London & Bombardier

MORE LEAVE TIE: LOCAL PAPER CLAIMS PROJECT IN TURMOIL
Sunday 18 June 2006
Michael Howell, Chief Executive of tie, will leave his post next month to move to London and a new job. This has led to the Edinburgh Evening News claiming that the whole project is in turmoil with a series of negative articles. However, in a surprise move they have also carried a pro tram article from the editor of Tramways and Urban Transit Howard Johnston.

Mr Howell only had a part time contract which was up for renewal at the end of the year – and it is reported that it was unlikely to be renewed. This is because the belief is that someone needs to commit to the job full time.

Willie Gallagher, who was recently appointed Chairman of tie, is to take on the majority of the duties until a replacement is found. It is reported that since Mr Gallagher took on the role of Chairman there may have been personality differences between the two, which led to Mr Howell’s departure.

On leaving the job, Mr Howell said: “Chairing the council at City & Guilds is an exciting and visible role. I am sad to be leaving the team at TIE. Nonetheless, things are in good shape."

Council leader, Donald Anderson, commented: “We are moving into a different phase of the delivery of trams, and the skills mix in the project will change. What we now have in place is the team that will deliver the project."

Of course an article on the Edinburgh tram project would not be complete without a comment from the SNP MSP for Lothians, Kenny MacAskill: “We have not even concluded the business case; we have spent £30m and delivered not a yard of track. It is time we stopped throwing good money after bad. There is clearly something amiss when the leading lights seem to be disappearing."

As well as the departure of Mr Howell, it has been reported that two other figures involved in the project are due to be leaving soon. Alex Macaulay, a project director, and Willie Fraser, an assistant project director are expected to be leaving soon. Mr Fraser has already resigned for personal reasons while Mr Macaulay is expected to resign soon to take up a job with the South East Scotland Transport Partnership – SESTRAN.

* The article mentioned above by Howard Johnston can be viewed here.
Source: The Scotsman

NEW PARK AND RIDE OPENS ON METROLINK
Sunday 18 June 2006
A new Park and Ride site has opened at the Whitefield Metrolink stop after a £1 million investment by the GMPTE. A new free car park with space for 127 cars has opened along with two bus stands, a bus turning area, eight motorbike stands, three cycle stands and five cycle lockers.

Cllr John Byrne, Bury spokesperson for the Authority, said: “Metrolink has been extremely popular since it opened in 1992 taking thousands of car journeys off the road every day. However, some people are still driving to get to Bury and Manchester when it would be easier, quicker, and cheaper for them to use the tram. The new free car park at Whitefield will give an extra incentive to motorists to use Metrolink by saving them money on petrol and parking. It should reduce the number of cars parked on nearby residential streets as well. The bus stops, cycle lockers and cycle stands will also be much more convenient for bus passengers and cyclists wanting to use the tram. I hope Whitefield Park & Ride will encourage more people to leave their cars behind and use Metrolink instead."

Similar facilities were opened at Crumpsall and Besses o’th’ Barn last year and additional parking is available at Bury, Radcliffe, Prestwich and Heaton Park Metrolink stops.
Source: GMPTE

METROLINK ACCUSE BUSES OF HOLDING UP JOURNEYS
Sunday 18 June 2006
The managing director of Serco Metrolink, David Godley, has blamed the sheer number of buses using the area around Piccadilly Gardens and Mosley Street for causing severe delays to the tram service in recent months.

Mr Godley said: “At worst, a third of my fleet can be at a standstill and the whole network just ceases to function. Passengers get frustrated because drivers are forbidden by health and safety laws to open the doors to let them out. We could really do with some of the buses being re-routed but I realise that that is difficult."

On one evening rush hour recently there were nine trams trapped between G-Mex and Piccadilly and on another day a tram took 61 minutes to get between the G-Mex and Piccadilly Gardens.

Michael Renshaw, from GMPTE, said: “"Increased supervision has gone some way to tackling the problem, but in the longer term we are working to deliver a transport routing strategy which will resolve these problems."

The Managing Director of Stagecoach buses in Manchester, and also the chairman of the Greater Manchester Bus Operators Association added: “It is a question of trying to fit a quart into a pint pot. Piccadilly really is not big enough for the demands placed upon it at certain times of the day. I believe that what we need is a Shudehill-type bus station for the southern services but there just isn't the spare land.”
Source: Manchester Online

TfL ADVISOR BLUNDERS WITH BUSES ARE AS EFFECTIVE AS TRAMS COMMENT
Sunday 18 June 2006
A senior Transport for London advisor has blundered during a meeting of the London Assembly’s transport committee by claming that tram scheme give little extra benefit than a bus scheme on the same route.

Dick Halle said: “It doesn't matter whether you have a bus or tram, the real difference is how much priority you give them on the road. Tram schemes are not feasible."

These comments were leapt upon by not just the local newspaper but also local campaigners against the West London Tram. Richard Barnes, London Assembly member for Ealing and Hillingdon said: “Dick Halle is right, there is no point wasting all this money on a tram scheme when buses could do the job cheaper and with less inconvenience to drivers. It's time for the mayor to cancel this expensive, unpopular and unnecessary scheme."

Nathan Fletcher, spokesman from TfL said: “Croydon Tramlink has shown the effectiveness and popularity of trams in moving very large numbers of people quickly and comfortably. In other areas, such as the Greenwich waterfront, research has found a bus-based system to be more appropriate at this stage. Given the volumes of people involved in public transport along the Uxbridge Road, our studies have found that a tram is the best solution to transform public transport capacity and reliability in this part of London."

Of course Mr Halle didn’t mention the fact that you may be able to have a bus service which is as quick and efficient as a tram scheme with the same priorities but it isn’t going to get people on to them as they are still a bus!
Source: Hillingdon Times

AND NOW EDINBURGH TRAM PLAN PULLED INTO TIBET ROW
Sunday 18 June 2006
Human rights campaigners are warning the Edinburgh tram project team that if they choose Bombardier to supply the trams for the Scottish capital there will be “grave consequences”.

This all stems from the fact that Bombardier is supplying railcars for a new railway between Golmud and Lhasa in Tibet. The Free Tibet campaign claims that this is an “overtly political project” by China to facilitate its control over Tibet.

Members of the group have written to transport chiefs at tie, MSPs and Councillors warning them that if they award the contract to Bombardier there will be protests and “grave potential consequences for tie’s reputation”.

A spokeswoman for tie said: “As a project involving use of public funds, tendering for the provision of tram vehicles for Edinburgh is taking place under the rules of the European Union.”
Source: The Scotsman

UPDATE FROM THE RAIB: BLACKPOOL & CROYDON
Sunday 18 June 2006
Two incidents have taken place in recent weeks on the tramways of the UK which have caused the Rail Accident Investigation Bureau to investigate. The first incident (as previously reported on this site) was at Phipps Bridge on Croydon Tramlink on 25 May, whilst the second one happened five days at Blackpool, and involved the experimental Trampower Tram.

Further details have now been reported on the Croydon incident courtesy of the RAIB website (link below). The tram involved was 2532 and it derailed at the points of entry to the double line section of track at Phipps Bridge at approximately 1557. It also reports that the tram received no serious damage and there were no human casualties. It should also be remembered that there was another derailment incident at the same place back in October.

The incident in Blackpool involved the experimental prototype Trampower Tram 611 on the Starr Gate loop, and it happened on 30 May 2006. The centre set of wheels derailed as it was reversing direction on the loop at around 1205. There were, of course, no passengers on board the tram and none of the crew were injured as a result of the derailment. The initial investigations have indicated that the driving of the tram did not contribute to the derailment.

The RAIB are now investigating both of these incidents. When their investigations are concluded they will publish reports, including any recommendations to improve safety.
Source: RAIB

CROYDON TRAMLINK NEWS UPDATE
Sunday 18 June 2006
Despite our report a couple of weeks ago that 2534 had been fitted with the new electronic destination blinds, it can now be confirmed that this is not the case. This means that there are still six trams with the traditional destination blinds, namely 2532, 2534, 2538, 2545, 2551 and 2552.

The Railgrinder, that made a visit to the Tramlink network a couple of years ago, has returned to complete further grinding. It arrived on the morning of 2 June and then for the next three nights undertook grinding of the loop from the bottom of Tamworth Road to Church Street points and up to the Sandilands tramstop. Then from 6 June the grinder was stationed at Beckenham Junction to work on the Beckenham line. It is not expected that the New Addington line will be dealt with this time.

There are to be changes to the feeder bus routes from Addington Village from May 2007. There are currently two routes – T31 and T32 – but from this change they will be merged to form one routes, encompassing parts of both. It will be known as the T32 but will use the current route of the T31 for part and then will use the route of the 130 – which itself will be rerouted. It will operate to a 7.5 minute frequency.

* For full details on these news stories, and all the other latest news from Croydon Tramlink check out the Unofficial Croydon Tramlink website.
Source: Unofficial Croydon Tramlink

CRICH TRAMWAY VILLAGE NEWS UPDATE
Tuesday 6 June 2006
Work continues on LUT 159 - the current major restoration project at the Museum – with work on the north truck proceeding well. The majority of the auxiliary equipment has now been fitted and this includes the brake rigging. The first of the rebuilt wheelsets has been returned and this has allowed lateral dimensioning to be carried out to design and remanufacture the brake rigging. It is hoped that significant work will be able to resume on the bodywork soon, once a new joiner is appointed at the Museum. Lately this work has been limited to the dashes and bridle rails.

Leeds 602 is almost complete following its repaint into its regal purple livery during the winter period. It is now in a watertight and operational condition, although some items do still need to be refitted and a low voltage defect needs to be examined.

London Transport 1622 is currently out of service having suffered damage due to a loose pinion on the north motor. A new armature was required and at the same time it was decided to renew the commutator. The south motor has also been removed for inspection whilst the tram was lifted.

Finally, Johannesburg 60 is expected to be released to the operational fleet soon having undergone extensive testing after its overhaul during the winter.
Source: Contact from the Tramway Museum Society