This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 7 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Another pair of photo galleries have been added to the site today:

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In Pictures: A busy day at Seaton

Posted on Saturday 6 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Wednesday 3rd July proved to be a busy day on the Seaton Tramway with no fewer than seven trams out on the tramway for various reasons. As we are now in the main season for the tramway the 20 minute frequency service uses four trams (to ensure there is always a tram at Seaton ready to depart) and on this day 2, 9, 11 and 12 were allocated to this. This quartet were joined by 10 on a private hire, 15 on a tram driving lesson and 6 on a test run following recent workshop attention. And all this on a normal midweek day in early July! Paul Hudd was on duty as a driver during the day and has shared the following images with us.

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Picture in Time: Midland Metro – as it was!

Posted on Saturday 6 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Our archive image from a modern tramway is very different to usual as not only is there not a tram in sight but trams are also a long way away from being considered for the route!

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Current South Shields Metro station to close permanently

Posted on Saturday 6 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

There will be a little bit of history on the Tyne and Wear Metro on Monday 8th July when South Shields will become the very first station on the network to close permanently. Since the Metro network opened 39 years ago no station has been closed never to reopen so this marks a bit of a milestone although it shouldn’t be seen as a negative as it will be replaced by a brand new station as part of a new transport interchange due to open on Sunday 4th August.

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West Midlands Metro disruption after signal failure

Posted on Saturday 6 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Services on the West Midlands Metro between Wolverhampton St George’s and The Royal were suspended during the morning rush hour on Tuesday 2nd July after a signal failure was reported. It seems that this may have been a general issue as road traffic on Bilston Road was also delayed by a traffic light problem at the same time. A normal service was able to start operation again from approximately 0900.

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In Pictures: When tram movements don’t quite go according to plan…

Posted on Friday 5 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Earlier this week we reported on the departure of Manchester 765 from Beamish as it returned to its home at the Heaton Park Tramway. But whilst the tram is now safely ensconced back in Manchester now it was a trip which took much longer than planned – thanks to be breakdown of the low loader!

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More power supply problems disrupt NET

Posted on Friday 5 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Saturday 29th June saw more delays to services on Nottingham Express Transit for the second day in a row due to power supply issues. It was announced on NET’s social media at approximately 0900 that there was a power supply problem which led to a revised service in operation, also affecting bus services in certain areas presumably because they couldn’t pass trams which were unable to move. A tram service from The Forest to Hucknall and Phoenix Park and from Nottingham Station to Toton Lane and Clifton South was able to run until around 1200 when a full service resumed albeit with delays. The reasons for the two power supply issues on two consecutive days haven’t been revealed.

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In Pictures: West Midlands Metro signage starts to spread

Posted on Thursday 4 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Despite the fact that West Midlands Metro has been known as such since January 2018 with a new brand the signage at stops outside of Birmingham City Centre has remained in the old Midland Metro style but now a start has been made on extending the blue brand further north. So far stops between St Pauls and Handsworth Booth Street have been treated with further stops towards Wolverhampton St George’s set to follow in the forthcoming weeks and months. Scott Murphy has captured the following images for us.

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Contactless is coming to Metrolink

Posted on Thursday 4 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

From Monday 15th July passengers travelling on Manchester Metrolink will be able to just tap in and out using their contactless card as a step towards Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham’s “Our Network” plan for a fully integrated, modern and accessible public transport.

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Picture in Time: Manchester 765

Posted on Thursday 4 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

One of the most well travelled trams around the country is the feature of today’s edition of Picture in Time. It is a tram which at the time of our image was to be found at Crich and has recently returned from Beamish to Heaton Park – its is Manchester 765.

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In Pictures: 272 receives Audi advert in Edinburgh

Posted on Wednesday 3 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

With the Royal Highland Show now over for another year Edinburgh Trams have wasted no time in removing the advertising vinyls from 272 with the tram now receiving a new advert, this time for Audi. As always the tram is in the standard advert layout with just sections three and five having full vinyls and the remainder of the tram just seeing adverts above the windows. With a black base for most of the advert it does seem to merge quite well with the standard fleet livery with the main gist of the advert being Audi on Demand where you can hire a car for between 1 and 28 days whether you on a work break or holiday. Roy Calderwood captured the tram for us.

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Manchester 765 heads back to Heaton Park

Posted on Wednesday 3 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

After five months away at Beamish, Manchester 765 has returned to its home base of the Heaton Park Tramway following the conclusion of its successful loan period. The tram departed the northeast on the morning of Tuesday 2nd July before making the long trip across to Manchester where it will now be recommissioned with a planned return to service at this Sunday’s (7th July) Tramtastic 2019 event.

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In Preview: Classic Motorcycle Day at Crich

Posted on Tuesday 2 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

The next special event to take place at the Crich Tramway Village will be the Classic Motorcycle Day on Sunday 7th July where the normal tram service will be joined by hundreds of classic motorcycles and, hopefully, plenty of visitors!

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Rigby Road Depot

Posted on Tuesday 2 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Another black and white for our latest dip into the Blackpool tram archives this week.

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Electric cargo bikes for Edinburgh during Newhaven extension works

Posted on Monday 1 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

In the first of several innovations to help businesses during the construction of the Edinburgh Trams extension to Newhaven it has been announced that electric cargo bikes will offered to help with deliveries to customers and to move goods around.

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In Pictures: Hythe Pier Railway

Posted on Monday 1 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

Another entry into is it a tramway or a railway debate is the Hythe Pier Railway (its official title) in Hampshire which runs along Hythe Pier. This pier is served by a ferry which travels across from Southampton with the railway then running along the pier to reach land. Two locomotives are owned and they are always marshalled at the land end of the train with a driver’s position also provided in one of the carriages at the sea end. Services are usually formed of a loco and three carriages with all rolling stock currently carrying a rather drab green livery. Peter Narramore caught the railway in action on 8th November 2018.

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In Pictures: Driver Training in Blackpool

Posted on Monday 1 July 2019 by Gareth Prior

An aspect of standard tramway practice across the British Isles we don’t often feature is that of driver training – a vital task to ensure that there is a regular intake of drivers allowing a full service to operate. In Blackpool 001 and 002 are often allocated to the training of drivers and were both provided with an additional seat in the cabs to allow the instructor to sit alongside the trainee. On Thursday 27th June both of the trams were being used for this purpose as this photo from Peter Dockerty shows.

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Around the World in Trams: Madrid 1106

Posted on Sunday 30 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

We return to Europe as part of our world tour this week with a trip to Madrid in 1972 – the last year of traditional tramway operation in the city.

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In Pictures: Midland Metro 10 still at Long Marston

Posted on Sunday 30 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

When the Midland Metro T69s were sold off at e-auction it was announced that three would survive with 11 being donated to Birmingham Museum for eventual display, 16 being kep at Wednesbury for possible use as an engineering tram and 07 which was donated to UK Tram for testing purposes. The remaining 13 were said to have been sold for scrap with the majority of them being transported from their storage location of Long Marston to Rotherham in May 2018. However, one further T69 didn’t make the journey and has remained in situ at Long Marston although the reason for this change in plan is unknown. Glyn Williams captured the following the image of the tram.

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In Pictures: Supertram trackworks move on

Posted on Sunday 30 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

The good progress being made on the major rail replacement project on Stagecoach Supertram is continuing with the latest worksite on the outbound track through Langsett Primrose View tramstop between the junctions with Ash Street and Cuthbert Bank Road. This remains area two of the 2019 project with trams currently unable to travel any further than Shalesmoor from the city meaning that both the Blue and Yellow routes are not serving stops from there to their respective termini at Malin Bridge and Middlewood. Stuart Cooke with the photography showing the start of the work on this section.

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