Sheffield City Region look for tram-train extensions as part of rail plan

Posted on Friday 19 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

The latest region of the UK to unveil their plans for the future of transport is the Sheffield City Region and again there are ideas for trams although in this case it isn’t conventional trams mentioned as buoyed by the success of the link to Rotherham Parkgate it would be tram-train which would be developed.

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Study names Metrolink as fifth best in the world

Posted on Friday 19 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

In another boost for Manchester Metrolink the system has been named as the fifth best in the world as part of an international study. This study looked at 32 trams systems from across the world and Metrolink was in the large cities category scoring a total score of 66 out of 100 across ten different separate criteria.

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In Preview: Tram Sunday weekend Heritage Trams – 20th & 21st July

Posted on Friday 19 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

This weekend will see more enhanced heritage tram action in Blackpool and with Tram Sunday taking place on Sunday 21st July it is very much Fleetwood orientated this time around – with a very frequent service north on both days. Tram Sunday itself will also see three heritage trams on display in Fleetwood with the heritage service – and the normal tram service too – terminating short at Fisherman’s Walk.

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Standard 143 continues to progress – 6 weeks to launch!

Posted on Thursday 18 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Anyone who saw the recent photos of Standard 143 in the Electrical Compound during June’s Totally Models event will have seen the current state of the tram which is due to be relaunched into service in just six weeks time on Wednesday 28th August. Whilst it does look as if there is a lot of work to be fitted into this relatively short time period a new update from the Fylde Transport Trust remains upbeat on the tram being completed in time.

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In Pictures: Supertram gets ready for a return beyond Hillsborough

Posted on Thursday 18 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

After the best part of three (long) months a full service on Stagecoach Supertram is set to return from Friday 19th July after the completion of the area two rail replacement works – although it will only be a three day resumption to help transport people around the area for the Tramlines festival. In preparation for the return of services to Middlewood (Yellow route) and Malin Bridge (Blue route) driver training and testing was well underway on Thursday 18th July.

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Picture in Time: Seaton Tramway 12

Posted on Thursday 18 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

As we move to featuring Seaton in Picture in Time this week we take a look at the most rebuilt tram in the fleet – no. 12.

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In Pictures: Trams terminate at West End-Princes Street

Posted on Wednesday 17 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

There are often complaints in Blackpool when the tram service is split in two when special events take place on the Tower Headland but that by no means the only tramway which sees curtailed services at times during the year. Probably the tramway which sees the most of this type of disruption is Edinburgh Trams with trams from the Airport terminating at West End-Princes Street when various events happen on Princes Street itself. One such occasion was for a few hours during the afternoon of Sunday 14th July as captured in these images from Roy Calderwood.

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In Preview: Manx Heritage Transport Festival – 24th to 28th July

Posted on Wednesday 17 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

The second and biggest transport event of the year on the Isle of Man is just a week away! The Manx Heritage Transport Festival takes place this year between Wednesday 24th and Sunday 28th July with events across the island including the Manx Electric Railway. Last year was definitely the year of the MER with the 125th anniversary of the line being celebrated and again this year it will also take centre stage over the five action packed days with the big highlight for fans of the MER set to be the return to service of three trailers, including 54 which was last used in passenger service in 1971!

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August track replacement in Nottingham

Posted on Wednesday 17 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

For two weeks during August services on Nottingham Express Transit will run to a revised timetable with rail replacement works due to take place on the section between The Forest and High School. No trams will be running from The Forest to Old Market Square between Monday 5th and Sunday 18th August whilst this work takes place.

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In Pictures: A Blue Monday for West Midlands Metro 17

Posted on Tuesday 16 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Ever since Urbos 3 31 was unveiled in the new house style of West Midlands Metro back in July 2018 it has been a case of waiting and wondering when the next tram may receive the full vinyls. There have been advertising liveries where a little bit of blue has been included in the intervening period but no full blue livery – until now that is! The next tram chosen is 17 with this tram debuting in its new look on Monday 15th July 2019.

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In Pictures: Sheffield 15 and Joseph star in the sun at Crich

Posted on Tuesday 16 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Mix a warm and sunny day with Joseph the horse and Sheffield 15 in operation at Crich and what do you have? A healthy number of visitors to the Crich Tramway Village that’s what! Monday 15th July saw the latest Horse Tram Day at Crich with Joseph hauling 15 between Stephenson Place and the Depot Crossover for four hours either side of lunch alongside a standard three electric tram service, which thanks to the good mid-July weather saw open toppers Blackpool 236 and London County Council 106 run with Blackpool 762 also in action.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Boats 605 & 604

Posted on Tuesday 16 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

For the next few weeks we are going to be featuring images from Blackpool in 2007 and we start off with a view of two of the always popular Boat Cars – neither of which are currently in service in two very different locations.

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Coming soon: Approved extensions across the British Isles

Posted on Monday 15 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Can’t keep up with which extensions have been approved and either about to start or have started construction or are just ideas and may happen in the future? Well, if you are worry no more as if here is you one stop overview of all approved extensions across the British Isles. We’re not including those places where there is just a renewal of existing lines (i.e. Douglas Bay Horse Tramway) but will look at all tramways whether traditional or modern and their planned extensions.

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In Pictures: 1950s weekend at Beamish

Posted on Monday 15 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July saw Beamish head back to the 1950s (or is that forward to the 1950s?!) for another weekend event. As always the trams provided a vital transport link around the museum site with the Saturday of the event seeing four trams allocated to service all running in a clockwise direction. The four trams were Blackpool 31, Blackpool 40, Newcastle 114 and Sheffield 264. Leo Dembry has provided us with the following photos.

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In Pictures: It never rains but it pours in Sheffield!

Posted on Monday 15 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

We head back until Sunday 2nd December 2018 for this small pictorial article as heavy rain in Sheffield lead to trams having to plough through surface water as they continued running the normal service without much complaint. In this update Nigel Pennick was in the Hillsborough area of the city – where both Blue and Yellow route service runs – and captured these images of the original trams constructed by Siemens-Duewag in the early 1990s.

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Around the World in Trams: Krakow 3042

Posted on Sunday 14 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Poland is the location for our worldwide tram series for the next few weeks as we head to the southern city of Krakow.

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Call made for memorial to Burton tram tragedy

Posted on Sunday 14 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

During the peak years of first generation tramways in the UK there were a number of accidents which saw people tragically lose their lives and now a call has made for one of these to be commemorated as the centenary of the incident approaches. On 8th October 1919 Burton & Ashby 19 lost traction on the track which caused the tram to head back down a hill and then derail and overturn. Two people tragically lost their lives, including the conductress on the tram, Lillian Parker and one passenger.

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Happy 10th birthday to the M5000!

Posted on Sunday 14 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

13th July 2009 saw the delivery of the first of a new class of trams for Manchester Metrolink with Bombardier built M5000 3001 arriving at Queen’s Road Depot. At this time the M5000s were only been ordered to add to the T68 fleet but this decision was soon changed and they were to become the sole type of tram to operate on the network with 120 examples now in service in the city (and another 27 now on order).

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 14 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

This week’s pair of Photo Galleries both come from traditional tramways in the UK:

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Luas Green line hit by overhead line problems

Posted on Saturday 13 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Overhead wires – great when they work and power trams across the British Isles but as soon as there is an issue with them that’s when things start to go awry to the service. The latest place to suffer a major problem with its overhead has been the Luas network in Dublin with the Green line severely affected on Saturday 13th July after an issue was detected when trams returned to depot after the previous day’s service.

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