Some Supertram fares to rise from 30th September

Posted on Friday 21 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

There will be some minor changes to fares on Stagecoach Supertram from Sunday 30th September. Not all fares will be affected and it will just be adult tickets which will see increases.

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Change of departure platform at Grand Central

Posted on Friday 21 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

From Monday 24th September works to connect the current West Midlands Metro line on Stephenson Street with the extension to Centenary Square and Edgbaston will see a change of platform for all services running to Wolverhampton St George’s. From this date – and until summer 2019 – all trams will both arrive and depart from the platform closest to New Street station.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 1 Comment

Storm Ali makes its mark

Posted on Thursday 20 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

Storm season is upon us with Storm Ali causing major disruption across the northern part of the British Isles including service suspension on tramways in Dublin and on the Isle of Man.

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Posted in Douglas Bay Horse Tramway, Dublin Luas, Manx Electric Railway, Snaefell Mountain Railway | 2 Comments

Picture in Time: Nottingham Express Transit 208

Posted on Thursday 20 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

Today’s edition of Picture in Time is back in Nottingham for another view taken in the early days of the new tram system.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Wednesday 19 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

As you can tell from just below this article the start of our coverage from the 125th Anniversary of the Manx Electric Railway events is now online. In this update we cover the first four days of events – huge thanks to David Mee for sending photos enabling us to do this as it was mainly before yours truly arrived!

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Event Review: Ratchet Car 14 returns to service as Crossbench cars enter stage right

Posted on Wednesday 19 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

The 125th Anniversary of the Manx Electric Railway celebrations continued at the start of the working week with the big highlight being the official launch into service of Ratchet Car 14 after its high quality paid staff and volunteer restoration at Derby Castle sheds. As we continue our review of the week we take a look at days three and four where 14’s relaunch led to a period in sun for the four operational Crossbench cars.

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Event Review: MER 125 gets off to a soggy start

Posted on Wednesday 19 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

Opening in 1893 between Douglas and Groudle, the Manx Electric Railway celebrated its 125th anniversary with a week long special event at the start of September – and what an event it was! Trams returning to service, cavalcades, intensive services, special tours and behind the scenes tours were all put on in what was one of the best transport events on the Isle of Man in recent years. In this first part of our review of the events we take a look at the first weekend, a weekend which, unfortunately, saw the arrival of heavy rain.

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Full service resumes on Supertram – early!

Posted on Wednesday 19 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

It’s not often we report on engineering works finishing early, but that is exactly what has happened in Sheffield with a full service on the Blue route resuming on Sunday 16th September – a full five days ahead of schedule! This was Area 5 of the 2018 rail replacement works with Eckington Way seeing new track put into place. No further works are scheduled to take place this year with a full service on the Blue, Purple and Yellow routes to run throughout the year. And of course, later this year they will be joined by the all new Tram-Train service between Cathedral and Rotherham Parkgate – once testing and driver training is completed.

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In Pictures: More on new advert for Edinburgh 271

Posted on Wednesday 19 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

Last week we reported on how Edinburgh Trams 271 had received a new advert – becoming the fourth tram of the four tram deal with Parabola’s Edinburgh Park development. As with a previous advert it isn’t solely about the development though as it also featured full height adverts for the campaign to seek views on what people want to see in Edinburgh in 2050. Further images of this new advert are available below with thanks to Roy Calderwood.

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In Pictures: Rainbow fades on Metrolink

Posted on Tuesday 18 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

With the annual Pride event now just a memory in Manchester the two trams which became Rainbow Trams – 3028 and 3071 – are back in standard fleet livery. However, not everything had been put back to how it was as on 3071 the side fleet numbers are still in the raised position although the end numbers are now in the standard place.

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In Preview: Blackpool Anniversary Spectacular

Posted on Tuesday 18 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

Just like London buses – or is that like Blackpool trams in days gone by?! – another tram special event is upon us with the annual Anniversary Spectacular due to take place on the Blackpool Tramway on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd September. A firmly established event in the special events calendar now you know the drill by now – every heritage tram which can run will run at some point of the weekend with an intensive timetable and specials in operation whist there will be stored trams on display at Rigby Road Depot, depot tours (limited availability) and free bus tours around Blackpool. For full details read on…

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Jubilee 762

Posted on Tuesday 18 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

We are back in the early 1990s for our latest trip into the past with Blackpool Jubilee 762 the tram featured today.

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In Pictures: Blackpool Boat 606 in Maryland

Posted on Monday 17 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

It seems the best place to go if you want a ride on a Blackpool Boat car at the moment is the United States of America as following swiftly on from the use of 228 and 233 in San Francisco, 606 has now been in action. The tram was in service during the annual Trolley Festival at the National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville, Maryland on Sunday 16th September. And Edward M Koehler Jr was there to capture these images which he has kindly sent on to us.

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In Pictures: Cherry Picker causes issues at Market Street

Posted on Monday 17 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

A cherry picker was carrying out maintenance work at the Debenham’s store in Manchester’s Market Street when it caused the pavement to partially collapse causing the footpath adjacent to the Metrolink line to be blocked on Monday 10th September. This led to Metrolink staff being stationed there to prevent pedestrians from encroaching into the path of any trams. Mark Shepherd with the photos.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 1 Comment

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 16 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

After a break due to tram events we are back with more photos with this week’s offering coming from Crich’s Simply Trams event:

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Posted in National Tramway Museum, Site News | Comments Off on This week on British Trams Online

Preparatory works to start on Douglas Promenade

Posted on Sunday 16 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

It has been due to happen for what seems like a long time but finally the reconstruction of Douglas Promenade is set to get underway with the first preparatory works scheduled to commence on Monday 17th September. Of course, the final result of these works will see the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway confined to a single track section from Broadway along Loch Promenade to the terminus at the Sea Terminal but these initial works shouldn’t see any affect for the tram service for the remainder of the 2018 season.

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Tram and bus collide in Edinburgh

Posted on Sunday 16 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

There have been more delays for tram services in Edinburgh, this time after a bus and tram were involved in a collision at Shandwick Place. The collision took place during the morning rush hour of Friday 14th September with local press reports stating that two vehicles came into contact with the bus on the tram lines. The tram was heading westbound at the time of the collision and it is not currently known which way round the collision was. There were no injuries reported but tram services were suspended between West End Princes Street and York Place whilst the incident was dealt with.

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Collision in Laxey

Posted on Saturday 15 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

A van and tram collided on the Manx Electric Railway on the road crossing immediately to the north of Laxey Station leaving the two occupants of the van injured. The collision happened at approximately 1220 with the Department of Infrastructure confirming that the tram was not moving at the time with no injuries reported from passengers or crew. This crossing is non-light controlled with traffic expected to stop when a tram approaches. The tram only received minor damage.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 710

Posted on Saturday 15 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

Today Picture in Time goes back over 30 years to a time when Blackpool Balloon 710 was on loan at Crich as part of the tram swaps for the Centenary of tramway which saw a number of cars from the national collection head over to the Lancashire coast.

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RAIB release reports into two door trap incidents

Posted on Saturday 15 September 2018 by Gareth Prior

Two recent incidents of passengers and objects become stuck in tram doors have led the RAIB to release two separate reports over the past few days – one in Nottingham a full blown report whilst the other, in Manchester, leading to just a Safety Digest. In both cases the RAIB have reminded drivers that they should not solely rely on door detection systems to ensure nothing is trapped in the doors but that visual checks should always take place ahead of departure.

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