In Pictures: Heritage trams move down to Starr Gate

Posted on Wednesday 1 October 2025 by Gareth Prior

The much anticipated temporary return of heritage trams to operation in Blackpool moved a further step forward in late September when the chosen pair of trams for Illumination Tours during the Lightpool Festival this October took place. Both Balloon 717 and Frigate 736 were moved as part of further testing and can now be found residing at Starr Gate Depot.

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In Pictures: A return to fleet livery for West Midlands Metro 51

Posted on Wednesday 1 October 2025 by Gareth Prior

The University of Wolverhampton wrap on West Midlands Metro 51 is no more with the vinyls having been removed from the tram during September 2025. Following the removal of this advert the tram is now running in full fleet livery once more.

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Fatigue monitoring system moves to next stage of testing

Posted on Wednesday 1 October 2025 by Gareth Prior

A workplace fatigue monitoring system, which has been many years in development, is set to move to the next stage of operational testing as the project progresses. You may remember talk of FOCUS+ which had been tested on systems such as Edinburgh Trams and now this technology has been further developed and is known as BaselineNC. It is this latest development which will move to the next stage of testing.

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In Pictures: Trams return to Wolverhampton St George’s!

Posted on Tuesday 30 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

Its been a long-time coming but Monday 29th September 2025 finally saw the return of passenger services to Wolverhampton St George’s as for the first time in its history the West Midlands Metro has three terminus stops.

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UKTram sign Memorandum of Understanding with Rail Forum

Posted on Tuesday 30 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

Another step forward in the strengthening collaboration across the transport sector has recently been demonstrated following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between UKTram and Rail Forum. This was signed at the Rail Forum AGM where the shared goals of the two organisations were highlighted.

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New Metro trains inspire drag artist on Ru Paul’s Drag Race

Posted on Tuesday 30 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

Over time you hear that this has inspired that but we think this may be a new one as the new Metro trains currently being introduced into service on the Tyne and Wear Metro have apparently inspired a drag artist appearing on the latest series of Ru Paul’s Drag Race for the design of their new dress!

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In Pictures: A rainy Manchester in July 2025

Posted on Monday 29 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

Whilst much of early summer 2025 has seen fine weather there have still been spells of more inclement weather conditions, and that was the case on Tuesday 15th July 2025 in Manchester. Whilst for some that would be an excuse to put the camera away until things improved, for David Fowler it was the chance to capture some excellent atmospheric shots which shows that the sun doesn’t always shine in Manchester!

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Anti-social behaviour on NET starts to fall

Posted on Monday 29 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

According to newly released figures the number of reported incidents of anti-social behaviour on Nottingham Express Transit has started to fall following the introduction of a new campaign between the tram operator and Nottinghamshire Police.

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Stop by Stop Edinburgh Trams: Bankhead to Airport – Edinburgh Airport

Posted on Monday 29 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

And so we come to the end of our journey on Edinburgh Trams as we travel on the most expensive section of tramway in the UK.

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Trams &: Manchester Metrolink 3105 & bus

Posted on Sunday 28 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

Shall we have another edition of “Trams &”? This time the latest system to feature is Manchester Metrolink and it’s a bus again which makes up the &,

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London Trams join “Two Lines – STOP” campaign

Posted on Sunday 28 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

London Trams have become the last of the UK modern tram systems to join in with the national “Two Lines = STOP” safety campaign. Led by the LRSSB this campaign is aimed at reducing collisions between trams and pedestrians and uses bold new signage and attention-grabbing social media content, all tailored to the particular system.

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First two Edinburgh Trams employees celebrate 13 years at the company

Posted on Sunday 28 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

Trams on the modern system may only have been running in Edinburgh since 2014 but two staff members have recently celebrated their 13th anniversary of being employed by the company. Ally Petrie and Jon McCulley joined Edinburgh Trams on 15th September 2012 as the first employees and have since played a huge part in the growth and success of the company.

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Operation Coastwatch helps to lower anti-social behaviour on the Metro

Posted on Sunday 28 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

A dedicated Police and partner operation has helped to lower crime and anti-social behaviour on the Tyne and Wear Metro, as well as the coastal community it serves. Operation Coastwatch was first launched in 2014 and the first three weeks of this year’s initiative has seen a 47% reduction in the number of anti-social behaviour incidents when compared with 2024.

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In Pictures: Clearer views of Metropolitan Feltham 355 at Acton

Posted on Saturday 27 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

As we’ve seen before the London Transport Museum’s store at Acton is home to a couple of heritage trams which there is no longer space for at the museum’s main site in Covent Garden. When the store is open to the public, both trams have for a long-time been packed in making photography very difficult. But that was a bit different over the open weekend of 20th/21st September when the movement of a trolleybus meant that Feltham 355 could be seen without as much in the way for a change.

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Around the World in Trams: Rhein-Neckar 705

Posted on Saturday 27 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

Just one more photo coming from Mannheim in Germany before “Around the World in Trams” moves on once more.

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Tram alert system enters next phase of development

Posted on Saturday 27 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

A system which alerts pedestrians to approaching trams is set to move to the next phase of development as further tests take place. The project sees track vibrations used to alert pedestrians and is backed by the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board (LRSSB).

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Latest LRSSB podcast out now!

Posted on Saturday 27 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

The latest podcast from the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board (LRSSB) is highlighting how professionals from across the light rail sector are working together to share best practice and strengthen a sector-wide approach to tramway safety.

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In Pictures: More Tram-Train testing in South Wales

Posted on Friday 26 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

To say that the testing of the class 398 tram-train vehicles in South Wales has been rather sporadic would be a bit of a understatement! As we previously reported daylight testing on the Treherbert line had kicked off on the first day of September but since then it has been touch and go whether they runs will actually take place.

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3102 receives new advert in Manchester

Posted on Friday 26 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

One moment a tram is in an advert, then its in fleet livery and then it gets another advert, and you wonder why its difficult to keep up! 3102 is the tram this time that doesn’t seem to be able to decide what it wants to wear as after a couple of weeks of being back in silver and yellow it has now received a new advertising wrap.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Jubilee 761 leads a queue

Posted on Friday 26 September 2025 by Gareth Prior

We return to Blackpool for the next set of archive images in “Picture in Time” as we start off with a selection of images taken during 1979 from the camera of Donald Brooks.

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