Vintage tram joins the cast of ‘Neighbours’!

Posted on Friday 3 May 2019 by Andrew Waddington

ITV soap opera Coronation Street has featured trams in storylines several times over the years – ranging from a Metrolink tram crashing onto the street itself to Blackpool Balloon car 710 hitting and killing the villainous Alan Bradley. Now, long-running Australian soap Neighbours has gone one better – by making a tram a part of the permanent set!

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Major disruption in Manchester City Centre after suspicious package found

Posted on Friday 3 May 2019 by Gareth Prior

A 26 year old man has been arrested on suspicion of a bomb hoax after a backpack was left in Piccadilly Gardens, causing major disruption to Metrolink services through Manchester City Centre for several hours during the afternoon and evening of Friday 3rd May. A cordon was put round the scene from around 1400 until 2000 during which time no trams were able to serve either Market Street or Piccadilly Gardens.

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In Preview: May Day Bank Holiday tram allocations revealed in Blackpool

Posted on Friday 3 May 2019 by Gareth Prior

It may only seem like a couple of weeks since we last had a Bank Holiday weekend – possibly because it was! – but this weekend once again sees a Gold timetable running on Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours with the usual six tram service in operation – plus an added bonus of the Western Train on Saturday 4th May.

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A May start for Douglas Bay Horse Tramway services

Posted on Friday 3 May 2019 by Gareth Prior

It now looks as if it will mid to late May for a start of services for the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway, according to a new statement released by Isle of Man Transport. In the statement they say that services are “expected” to start in that period whilst reiterating that it won’t happen until horse training is completed. Meanwhile, progress continues to be made on track relaying with a start now made on the temporary marquee where the trams will live for 2019.

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In Pictures: Railgrinding in Blackpool

Posted on Thursday 2 May 2019 by Gareth Prior

For three weeks during late April and early May track maintenance in Blackpool is seeing a partial service suspension in the evenings north of Bispham. As part of this work a railgrinder has been hired to grind the tracks – a far cry from the days when Blackpool would have their own dedicated rail grinder for such work, and showing how things have changed in the tram world in more recent times.

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Performance remains steady on Metrolink

Posted on Thursday 2 May 2019 by Gareth Prior

The latest performance statistics for Manchester Metrolink have been released as its practically as you were with very little change from the previous four weeks. This period is period 13 between 2nd March and 31st March with punctuality remaining at 91.7% – exactly the same as in period 12.

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Picture in Time: Manx Electric Railway 2

Posted on Thursday 2 May 2019 by Gareth Prior

Today if you mention either of the remaining original motors built for the Manx Electric Railway you think about how they are marketed as the world’s oldest trams and treated as such. But head back into the last century and it was a very different matter with both 1 and 2 spending time in use by the engineering team.

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Still the disruption continues with Metro overhead problems

Posted on Wednesday 1 May 2019 by Gareth Prior

Things are improving on the Tyne and Wear Metro following the two separate incidents of the overhead coming down on Monday 29th April but still passengers in the section between St James and Wallsend are waiting for a return to their services with work on the repair of the overhead at Chillingham Road ongoing. No estimate has been given for a full resumption of services on the Metro but Nexus have stated they hope to resume services “as soon as we can”.

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In Pictures: Edinburgh 272 gets a new advert

Posted on Wednesday 1 May 2019 by Gareth Prior

No sooner had we reported that Edinburgh Trams 272 was back in full fleet livery than its received a new advert. 272 has now received the annual Royal Highland Show and associated Education Trust adverts ahead of the show which takes place a stones throw from Ingliston Park and Ride between 20th and 23rd June 2019. Roy Calderwood with photos of the new look for the tram.

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Delays for Metrolink after collision with road sweeper

Posted on Wednesday 1 May 2019 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink services on the Manchester Airport line were partially suspended on Wednesday 1st May after M5000 3109 was involved in a collision with a road sweeper parked at the side of the road at Wythenshawe Park. The collision happened at around 0730 and saw the tram suffer damage to the side which came into contact with the other vehicle. Services were suspended between Sale Water Park and Roundthorn whilst the errant vehicles were removed. Then just as services started to get back to normal further delays were experienced on the Airport line due to a power failure affecting the whole line.

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In Pictures: Sheffield 264 returns to service at Beamish

Posted on Tuesday 30 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

After a short period of testing and commissioning Sheffield 264 has returned to service at Beamish – bringing the number of available trams to a very respectable seven; a major change to 2018 when at times it was a struggle to find four trams for service! As you may recall 264 had been undergoing attention in the Beamish workshops for a motor overhaul and reprofiling of its wheelsets but with this work now completed the tram is back in service once more! Testing of 264 began on 25th April and the tram was back in service on Monday 29th April.

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Overhead line down causing major Metro problems

Posted on Tuesday 30 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

There has been major disruption on the Tyne and Wear Metro since Monday 29th April as a result of the overhead being brought down by trains in two different areas on the Coast line. The severity of the damage has meant that no trains have been able to run between St James and Benton since it happened with warnings from Nexus that it is unlikely to be until Wednesday 1st May before a full service may resume.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Brush 625

Posted on Tuesday 30 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

In this week’s Blackpool edition of Picture in Time we head back over 25 years ago to the early 1990s for a view of one of the Brush Railcoaches in Fleetwood.

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In Pictures: Points installed at Crumpsall

Posted on Monday 29 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

Over the Easter weekend there was a closure of the Bury line which, along with other work which prevented trams from running onto the Rochdale line for a couple of days, saw the new pointwork installed at Crumpsall ahead of the start of terminating services to that stop once the Trafford Park line opens in 2020. The result of this work is that there is now a crossover between inbound and outbound lines just short of the stop along with points and the start of track into the new bay platform. For now the track in the new platform is yet to be laid but there is plenty of time for this to take place ahead of the start of services. The following photos from Steve Hyde shows the outcome of the engineering possession.

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Award wins for Midland Metro Alliance

Posted on Monday 29 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

Its another week and another awards ceremony with the Midland Metro Alliance celebrating a double win at the 2019 West Midlands Celebrating Construction Awards. The wins came in the Integration and Collaborative Working and the People Development categories at the ceremony which recognise the excellence of local organisations in working in the built environment sector.

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Man hit by tram at Prestwich

Posted on Monday 29 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

A man has suffered injuries described as not life threatening after he was hit by a tram on the Prestwich line of Manchester Metrolink on Wednesday 24th April. The incident happened at around 1715 with services from Bury to Queens Road suspended whilst the emergency services dealt with the aftermath. The man, in his 20s, was detained under the Mental Health Act.

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Around the World in Trams: Giardinetti Railway 832

Posted on Sunday 28 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

Rome is again the location as we feature another image from the Giardinetti Railway.

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Next Tramlink strike to see same service as last time

Posted on Sunday 28 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

The second 24 hour strike called in a dispute over pay on London Tramlink will take place on Wednesday 1st May, unless any last minute talks cause a rethink. Conservative members of the London Assembly have called upon Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, to intervene but this step looks unlikely at this stage and it is highly likely that the 24 hour walkout will go ahead as planned. Once again Tramlink are planning to operate a reduced service concentrated on the Wimbledon to East Croydon section.

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In Pictures: Works Cars in the depot at Crich

Posted on Sunday 28 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

We recently featured photos of Sheffield trams in the depot at Crich which raised the question – just where was Glasgow 1282? Well as this latest image from the home of the National Tramway Museum shows it hasn’t run away from Derbyshire and is in fact behind Cardiff 131.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 28 April 2019 by Gareth Prior

We have photos from the Docklands Light Railway as part of this week’s main site update:

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