A tale of two Coronations

Posted on Saturday 29 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

There is no denying that Blackpool’s Coronation Cars remain popular with enthusiasts even though (or maybe because!) there hasn’t been an operational example on the Promenade tramway for several years. The road to return for two of the three survivors is ongoing and following on from a recent update on the truck of 663 that tram has now returned to Blackpool whilst Fylde Transport Trust owned and VAMBAC fitted 304 has also seen some progress in its own return to the tracks.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Fylde Transport Trust | 5 Comments

Around the World in Trams: Seville 303

Posted on Saturday 29 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Continuing our look at trams running in the centre of Seville.

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Driver Safety Wrist Band to be developed by Edinburgh Trams and IHF

Posted on Saturday 29 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Edinburgh Trams and IHF have confirmed that they are continuing to progress a project aimed at improving the safety of drivers and mobile workers by using wearable technology. The Driver Innovation Safety Challenge (DISC) aims to support the development of a smart wrist or arm band which can monitor and analyse drivers’ and mobile workers’ fatigue and wellbeing levels.

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Lockdown Walks: Edinburgh Trams 276

Posted on Saturday 29 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Its time for another “Lockdown Walk” today and the location is again central Edinburgh.

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Comments on articles

Posted on Friday 28 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Many of you have already noticed this – thanks to those who have let me know – but the comments on articles are not currently showing (although they are held in the “backend” of the database which is used to run these pages). It doesn’t seem to be an easy fix and I’m away from a computer for a few days but will try and fix it upon my return next week.

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Blackpool Brush Car 298 restoration moves forward

Posted on Friday 28 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Work may not have resumed yet on the restoration of Blackpool Brush Car 298 at Crich but another major and significant milestone has been reached in the project with confirmation that the Tramcar Sponsorship Organisation and the Tramway Museum Society have signed the formal contracts for the restoration of the tramcar. It is expected to cost £373,000 to return the tram to service with 298 due to be moved back to Crich by the end of this year.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 4 Comments

In Pictures: Rail replacement works on Tyne & Wear Metro

Posted on Friday 28 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

As we mentioned a few weeks ago weekends during August have seen closures on the Tyne and Wear Metro to allow for some essential track maintenance to take place south of Gateshead. The work is concentrated on the section between Heworth and Pelaw.

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Picture in Time: Sheffield 74 & Southampton 45

Posted on Friday 28 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Its back to Crich again for this edition of “Picture in Time” as we have one further image during the temporary working arrangements on 25th May 2011.

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New Ashton Interchange to open 30th August

Posted on Thursday 27 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Passengers travelling on Manchester Metrolink will be able to enjoy far easier interchange with buses at Ashton-under-Lyne from Sunday 30th August with the new Interchange due to open for 90% of bus services. The £32.7 million has been built to provide easier interchange between different modes of transport and will be able to accommodate more bus services than the previous bus station as well as providing a centralised concourse which will reduce walking time for passengers.

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Great Orme Tramway to remain closed in 2020

Posted on Thursday 27 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

It has been announced that the Great Orme Tramway will not run at all during 2020 with the decision made in light of the continued Coronavirus restrictions and the practicalities of running the trams on the two sections between Victoria Station, Halfway and the Summit.

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Lockdown Walks: West Midlands Metro 27

Posted on Thursday 27 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

We are today heading to the West Midlands Metro for another image taken during the Covid-19 restrictions.

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Tree maintenance to see NET changes over the Bank Holiday weekend

Posted on Wednesday 26 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit will be undertaking some standard maintenance work on the trees close to the tramway over the August Bank Holiday weekend which will see some changes to services to allow this to safely take place. Both the Phoenix Park and Hucknall lines will be affected at different times.

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Covid-19 service update – operating systems

Posted on Wednesday 26 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

It’s been around two months since we last brought you a summary of the service being run on the tram and light rail systems of the British Isles – so its about time we gave a handy update all in one place. It continues to be an improved picture with all systems now running some sort of service with some now back to the basic pre-lockdown service.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Docklands Light Railway, Dublin Luas, Edinburgh Trams, London Trams, Manchester Metrolink, Nottingham Express Transit, South Yorkshire Supertram, Tyne and Wear Metro, West Midlands Metro | Comments Off on Covid-19 service update – operating systems

Picture in Time: Midland Metro 05

Posted on Wednesday 26 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Over the past few weeks we have seen what was in reality a fairly light snowfall in February 2012 on the Midland Metro but this week we move forward a year to a time when a much heavy snowfall had been experienced.

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Posted in Picture in Time, West Midlands Metro | 1 Comment

What’s New on British Trams Online?

Posted on Wednesday 26 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

A main site update, on a Wednesday! Have we gone mad? Quite possibly but this week’s update is now online earlier than usual as we again head into the archives for some more photos:

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Posted in Nottingham Express Transit, Picture in Time, Site News | 1 Comment

Yet another increase in services on the Blackpool Tramway

Posted on Tuesday 25 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

A new timetable will be introduced on the Blackpool Tramway from Sunday 30th August to allow more trams to run during illumination evenings with services running up to every 10 minutes. Blackpool Transport will also be introducing “Tram Full” messages on the destination indicators and some services will run as “limited stop” – just like the Twin Cars of days gone by!

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Covid-19 update – heritage systems and museums

Posted on Tuesday 25 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Its been a while since we last had a summary of which heritage lines are operating following the continued easing of lockdown restrictions so here we go again! This summary only gives details of those museums/heritage lines which have reopened. If no announcement has yet been made its not included.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway, Blackpool Tramway, Burton & Ashby 14, East Anglia Transport Museum, Manx Electric Railway, National Tramway Museum, North Eastern Electrical Transport Trust, Seaton Tramway, Summerlee Museum Tramway, Volk's Electric Railway | Comments Off on Covid-19 update – heritage systems and museums

Still Standing! Deepdale Road Depot, Preston

Posted on Tuesday 25 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

In this latest look at surviving first generation tram structures we are in another northwest city, this time its Preston as we take a look at Deepdale Road Depot, a structure which still houses public transport albeit buses instead of trams.

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Increase in services on Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Monday 24 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

A new timetable has been introduced on Edinburgh Trams as from Monday 24th August which sees trams running more frequently at peak times with a commitment to operating more services based on observations on the day.

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They’ve Run in 2020…

Posted on Monday 24 August 2020 by Gareth Prior

Now that some heritage tramways have been running a while since the lifting of restrictions, we thought it was about time we had an update of all those heritage trams which have run during 2020. This is what we think is the complete picture although, as always, please let us know if there are any errors or omissions. Trams which have run both pre and post lockdown are shown.

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