In Pictures: Hooton Park and its trams

Posted on Tuesday 9 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

Over the past couple of years the number of trams located at Hooton Park has increased with it having become the new home of three horse trams owned by the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society. Those three trams have joined a longer-term resident in the shape of Chester 4, the last surviving electric tram from the small system which once ran in the Cheshire city.

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Network Rail visit Pre-Metro Operations Ltd at Stourbridge

Posted on Tuesday 9 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

Whilst a lot of the talk now is about Very Light Rail options as a new and cost-effective way of bringing rail based public transport to areas which don’t necessarily warrant a full heavy or light rail system, it shouldn’t be forgotten that we have had a Very Light Rail line running in the UK since 2009 – the Stourbridge Shuttle. And operator of the line, Pre-Metro Operations Ltd, were recently visited by Network Rail’s Mixed Use Rail (MUR) team for a detailed showcase of the operation, depot facilities, and Pre Metro’s pioneering approach to low-cost branch line rail.

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More poetry at Longbenton Metro station

Posted on Tuesday 9 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

The station at Longbenton on the Tyne and Wear Metro has become the unofficial poetry station in recent years and recently five new and original poems about the Metro have gone on display. All are written by local, professional poets as part of a project between Nexus and the Royal Literary Fund.

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Numbers 9 – Seaton Tramway 9

Posted on Tuesday 9 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

Off to the Seaton Tramway for today’s “Numbers”.

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In Pictures: 4001 on display at Stephenson Steam Railway

Posted on Monday 8 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

4001, the first of the Tyne and Wear Metrocars to enter preservation, has now been at its new home of the Stephenson Steam Railway in Wallsend for around two months. The railway held a Railway 200 Gala over the weekend of 25th and 26th October 2025 which gave one of the first chances for many people to see the unit on display as it starts the next stage of its life. Trevor Hall went to pay a visit.

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West Midlands Metro relaunch safety campaign

Posted on Monday 8 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

The West Midlands Metro have become the latest UK tramway to refresh the “TWO LINES = STOP” safety campaign ahead of the opening of the Birmingham Eastside extension as far as Millennium Point.

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Old and New – Blackpool Tramway: Cleveleys

Posted on Monday 8 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

We go “Old and New” again as we take a look at two trams in Blackpool in roughly the same location, one a heritage tram and one a modern Flexity2. We are at Cleveleys today.

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Numbers 8 – Blackpool OMO 8

Posted on Monday 8 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

“Numbers” reaching 8.

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Out and About: West Midlands Metro – September 2025

Posted on Sunday 7 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

In this “Out and About” we’re off to the West Midlands Metro as we feature a photo taken back in September 2025.

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Most used Metrolink stops revealed

Posted on Sunday 7 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

New data released under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has shown the most used stops on the Manchester Metrolink network – and its probably no surprise which stops are at the top of the charts!

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Numbers 7 – Chesterfield 7

Posted on Sunday 7 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

Its that time of the day again when we feature our series “Numbers”.

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West Midlands Metro Penalty fares to increase to £100

Posted on Sunday 7 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

Travelling without a ticket on the West Midlands Metro is set to get a lot more expensive from 2026 with confirmation that the penalty fare is increasing to £100 – up from the current £10 and bringing the network in line with other systems across the UK.

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Mr Monopoly takes the tram in Nottingham!

Posted on Sunday 7 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham now has its very own edition of Monopoly and to mark the occasion Mr Monopoly visited the city and took a ride on a tram!

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A trip to… Luas Dublin

Posted on Saturday 6 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

In this pictorial article Jim Smythe takes a trip to Dublin’s Luas tram network and provides some images of operations. These were taken whilst the Red line was suspended between Connolly and The Point following a major fire in August 2025.

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Around the World in Trams: Bratislava 7831

Posted on Saturday 6 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

A new month and as always that means we change location for “Around the World in Trams”. And this time we stick in the pin in to the map and find ourselves in Bratislava.

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TfGM and Stockport Council work on plans for Metrolink extension

Posted on Saturday 6 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

One of the headline Metrolink extensions mentioned in Greater Manchester’s big transport plan is the much mooted line to Stockport, and it has now been confirmed that Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Stockport Council are working closely together to develop the plans ahead of submitting the first stage of a business case in 2026.

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Numbers 6 – Manx Electric Railway 6

Posted on Saturday 6 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

On we go with the series “Numbers”.

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West Midlands Metro survey passengers

Posted on Saturday 6 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

As part of their commitment to continue to deliver a safe, secure, reliable, and sustainable service that meets the needs of its passengers, West Midlands Metro have recently launched a new survey.

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Delay to updates

Posted on Friday 5 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

Apologies for the continued delays to up-to-date uploads to the website due to ongoing personal reasons. I do now have a bit more spare time but this is likely to be limited for the next few weeks still. I am hoping to be able to do some updates over the next week but will initially concentrate on the news before other parts of the site can be looked at. When various “photo series” start to be updated this article will be updated with more details. Thanks for your understanding, and thank you to all those who have reached out to check in with me, it is much appreciated.

Recent updates:

20/12/25 – Tram of the Year voting opened (Tram of the Year page)

21/12/25 – All Advent Calendar images uploaded – no peeking ahead of time! (Advent Calendars Index)

21/12/25 – Out and About articles added – slotted in to their usual position during the week (All Out and About articles)

21/12/25 – Old and New articles added – slotted in to their usual publication slot during the week (All Old and New articles)

22/12/25 – Picture in Time articles added – slotted in their usual weekly publication slot (All Picture in Time articles)

22/12/25 – Around the World in Trams added – slotted in their usual weekly publication slot (All Around the World in Trams articles)

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In Pictures: Trams on the move around Beamish’s Depot

Posted on Friday 5 December 2025 by Gareth Prior

Things have been fairly static in Beamish’s tram depot for much of this year with Gateshead 10 in its position at the rear or road 2 undergoing its major overhaul whilst Lisbon 730 had been on road 1, with out of service Newcastle 114 on road 3. But during the middle of November there had been a little bit of a move round for a couple of trams.

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