All night trams back for Edinburgh Festival

Posted on Friday 6 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

Every Saturday during the Edinburgh International Festival trams will run throughout the night to ensure that visitors to the world renowned festival can get back to their accommodation after late night shows. The Festival takes place between 3rd and 28th August with the special service running on Saturdays 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th August.

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In Pictures: Second battery operated tram enters service

Posted on Friday 6 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

West Midlands Metro now has two battery fitted trams in its main operational fleet with 31 re-entering revenue earning service on Thursday 5th July – a day which saw a full service resume although there were still speed restrictions following the repair of the overhead line damage overnight.

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Tram and lorry involved in Nottingham City Centre collision

Posted on Thursday 5 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

Tram services on Nottingham Express Transit were suspended in the city centre for just over an hour after a tram and lorry were involved in a collision close to the stop at Lace Market. Citadis 221 was involved in the collision with the rear of a lorry shortly after 1100 on Tuesday 3rd July causing the tram to suffer a smashed window. Photos from the scene show the immediate aftermath with the back of the lorry having come to a rest alongside the tram. It is unclear from these images whether the lorry reversed into the path of the tram or if it was stationery and the tram scraped alongside it as it attempted to pass. Temporary repairs were made to the damaged section of the tram before it could be moved. Whilst this was dealt with no trams ran between Old Market Square and Nottingham Station. A normal service resumed just after 1200.

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Help bid farewell to Blackpool 623

Posted on Thursday 5 July 2018 by Andrew Waddington

Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours have confirmed that Blackpool Brush Railcoach 623 will shortly be leaving the seaside again, and heading back to its active retirement home at Manchester’s Heaton Park Tramway. However, before it departs, a special farewell running day has been organised to take place on Friday 13th July, as a precursor to the ‘Tram Sunday’ weekend which sees a gold service operating on the heritage trams for the two days that follow.

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Car v tram again – this time on Eccles line

Posted on Thursday 5 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

There has been another collision between a car and a tram on Manchester Metrolink, this time affecting the Eccles line. The slow speed collision – with no injuries reported – happened close to the stop at Ladywell during the morning rush hour on Tuesday 3rd July. Trams were initially suspended between Weaste and Eccles whilst the collision was dealt with before a full service was resumed with severe delays as the service reformed.

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Around the World in Trams Guide: Trams in Rome

Posted on Thursday 5 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

A bit of a change for our worldwide tram series this week as this is the first in a new occasional look at various tram systems from around the world from the view of a visitor to see just what there is to see and do with advice from those who have experienced it first hand! This is not intended to be a full history of the line or an indepth look at current operations but is a starting point if you are considering a visit to the respective cities. In this first edition Ken Jones reports on his experiences in Rome. If you would be interested in supplying similiar articles on other systems from around the world to help enthusiasts thinking of planning a trip please email us at gareth@britishtramsonline.co.uk.

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In Pictures: Concrete base laid for North Station extension

Posted on Wednesday 4 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

The project may be delayed and it is likely to be quite some time before we can all enjoy a ride along Talbot Road to Blackpool North railway station but visible progress is now being made on preparing the surface for the laying of track in the future.

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More overhead problems on West Midlands Metro

Posted on Wednesday 4 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

There may be a new name in town but the UK’s most problematic overhead has once again reared its head with a revised service having to operate on West Midlands Metro after an issue was found with the overhead late on Tuesday 3rd July. Coming less than a month since the last prolonged overhead problem passengers are once being forced to change trams to complete full length journeys between Grand Central and Wolverhampton St George’s.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 2 Comments

Improved pay offer made to Supertram employees

Posted on Tuesday 3 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

Stagecoach Supertram have confirmed that they have made an improved pay offer to drivers and conductors in a bid to bring to an end the dispute with two strike dates confirmed earlier this week. Currently no Supertram services are due to run on Monday 9th and Thursday 12th July but it is hoped that this new offer may curtail this planned action.

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More cars find their way onto Metrolink tracks

Posted on Tuesday 3 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

With the crushing inevitably you have come to accept there have been a couple more cars which have found their way onto Metrolink tracks recently, including one which managed to drive onto the tracks at Vicotria – in a position which really beggars belief!

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Picture in Time: Nottingham Express Transit 207

Posted on Tuesday 3 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

Today Picture in Time is back in Nottingham for an image taken on just the second day of public service.

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27 new M5000s officially ordered for Metrolink

Posted on Monday 2 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

The contract to deliver 27 new M5000s for Manchester Metrolink has been signed to help increase capacity on the network by 15%. The 27 trams are part of a £72 million deal and are set to start arriving in Manchester in February 2020.

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Historic path found as work continues on West Midlands Metro extension

Posted on Monday 2 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

An old footpath – dating from either the 18th or 19th century – has been unearthed in Victoria Square, Birmingham as part of the Birmingham Westside extension of the West Midlands Metro. As so often happens when work is underway on constructing new tramways there are lots of hidden treasures – not seen for years – indeed in Blackpool recently old tram tracks were discovered but this latest find is even more historic.

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Stamps launched for MER 125th Anniversary

Posted on Sunday 1 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

You may have heard that the Manx Electric Railway is celebrating its 125th Anniversary in 2018 (a week long event takes place 1st to 8th September in case you weren’t aware!). As part of the celebrations a set of 6 new stamps have been launched featuring photos from competition winners with these available from Saturday 30th June 2018.

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Record passenger figures for Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Sunday 1 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

Edinburgh Trams looks set to post record passenger numbers over the weekend of the Royal Highland Show with a 20% increase on figures from 2017. Although exact numbers haven’t yet been released the excellent weather experienced during the weekend along with an increased service frequency combined to help the expected record number of passengers to be carried.

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Car and tram collide in Oldham

Posted on Sunday 1 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

Services through Oldham were disrupted for a time on Monday 25th June after a collision between a car and a tram. M5000 3035 was the tram involved on King Street close to the stop at Oldham Mumps. Details of the causes of the accident have not been made public but no injuries were reported with the car being removed from the scene after initial investigations.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 1 July 2018 by Gareth Prior

We have photos from last weekend’s Totally Models event in Blackpool as part of this week’s update:

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Site News | 1 Comment

In Pictures: A busy day in the Crich workshop

Posted on Saturday 30 June 2018 by Andrew Waddington

The past week has been a good one for fans of large open top trams around the UK. Fresh from the return to service of Blackpool 31 at Beamish Museum, and the announcement of Blackpool’s own ‘Princess Alice’ 706 being earmarked for overhaul with funding from a Fylde Tramway Society appeal, Saturday 30th June saw Newcastle 102 moved into the workshop at Crich Tramway Village for work to start on a major overhaul for this popular tramcar.

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Long lost tram track presented to Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway Society

Posted on Saturday 30 June 2018 by Gareth Prior

As so often happens in former tramway towns when work takes place on roads old tram track – buried long ago when the tramway was abandoned in the name of progress – is discovered once again. Another instance of this has happened in Colwyn Bay with the track now dug up and presented to the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway Society.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool OMO 5

Posted on Saturday 30 June 2018 by Gareth Prior

Today we feature one of the very first photos I ever took of a tram back in 1992 – little did I know at the time that this would be the only photo I ever took of an OMO in normal passenger service!

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