Area 2 Supertram rail replacement works details released

Work may still be ongoing in the first phase of the 2018 rail replacement works on Stagecoach Supertram but details have now been released of the plans for the next phase which will see the Blue route between Birley Lane and Halfway affected.

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Free Metrolink travel for Clean Air Day

As part of Clean Air Day on Thursday 21st June passengers travelling on Manchester Metrolink before 0700 and after 1900 will be able to travel without a ticket as part of a drive to encourage people to think about changing travel habits to improve air quality. Normal fares will apply at other times of the day with employers being encouraged to allow flexible start and end times for their staff so they can take advantage of the offer (but if anyone wants to take advantage at both ends of the day it will be a long old day at work!)

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Blackpool 31 almost ready to go!

Pleasing news to report from the Beamish Museum is that Blackpool 31 will soon be making a very welcome return to passenger service. Since it last carried visitors at the museum back in February 2016, 31 has of course spent a very memorable year in Blackpool, but since its return has been confined to the depot undergoing some essential workshop attention.

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New book series to be released

Four new books are to be released in a new series which aims to document the rich transport and social history at the heart of Wales’ town and cities. Written by Peter Waller, Lost Tramways of Wales will, unsurprisingly, look at the trams which operated in various locations in the country.

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Services set to resume on Edinburgh Trams

Edinburgh Trams are hopeful that they will be able to resume a normal service from the start of Friday 15th June following the completion of repairs to the infrastructure at Edinburgh Airport after the collision during the evening of Wednesday 13th June. As we reported at the time 258 was knocked off the rails after an airport bus collided with it at approximately 1730 with trams only able to run between York Place and Gyle Centre since.

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Around the World in Trams: Potsdam 9

Our around the world trip is in Germany for this latest instalment with a view of a historic tram from the system in Potsdam.

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Permission granted for EATM expansion

The biggest expansion of a UK heritage tramway for many years has been given the go-ahead with the wider plan to expand the East Anglia Transport Museum getting planning permission this week. As we first reported back in December 2017 the plans will not only see a new tram route and depot but will also see extensions to the railway and trolleybus route on 2.06 hectares of land which was purchased from the adjacent Eades Farm.

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Three injured after tram and bus collide at Edinburgh Airport

Three people have been injured after a tram and a bus collided just outside Edinburgh Airport on Wednesday 13th June. The force of the collision caused the front of the tram to leave the tracks with the bus overturning.

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In Pictures: First phase of 2018 Supertram rail replacement works draw to a close

The first phase of Stagecoach Supertram rail replacement works  are starting to come towards a conclusion with the work originally due to be completed by the end of this week. It had been expected that a full service will run on Supertram from Saturday 16th June – for a week at leat until the next phase gets underway on 23rd June – but it has now been confirmed that finishing works will be required over the weekend meaning Yellow route services will continue to run to Malin Bridge on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th June as well with a full service now planned to start from Monday 18th June. The final stage of the works is seeing the track replaced on the inbound line from Leppings Lane tramstop to Keyworth Road as our latest photo update from Stuart Cooke shows.

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MER trailer 54 to be returned to service

With work on the joint volunteer/paid staff restoration of MER Ratchet Car 14 coming to a conclusion you would be forgiven to think that those involved would be looking for a rest but far from it as they have announced their next project – the return to service of Trailer 54, for the first time since 1971! Work will start shortly on the bodywork with the trailer moved this week to Laxey Car Sheds where this will take place.

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Repairs completed and normal service resumes on Midland Metro

After four days of a revised service the normal full length service between Wolverhampton St George’s and Grand Central resumed from the start of Tuesday 12th June. The repairs on the damaged overhead between Jewellery Quarter and Soho Benson Road were finally completed overnight on Monday 11th June allowing normal service to resume.

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Picture in Time: Manchester Metrolink 1004

This instalment of Picture in Time heads to Manchester Metrolink for a photo taken in the early days of Manchester Metrolink.

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Eccles line to close for 13 days from late July

No trams will run to Eccles for 13 days from Saturday 28th July to allow construction work to take place connecting the current line with the Trafford Park extension. This period will also enable other maintenance work to take place on the Eccles line without providing any further disruption for passengers.

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Still no full service on Midland Metro

Passengers wishing to travel the full length of Midland Metro are still subject to a change of trams at Jewellery Quarter with the work to repair the overhead line yet to be completed. The problems have been ongoing since the evening of Thursday 7th June with a revised service operating ever since.

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New advert for Metrolink 3103

The latest vinyl wrap advert to be applied on Manchester Metrolink is for Hits Radio Manchester with 3103 the tram to carry the ad. Hits Radio is the new name for Key 103 and thus becomes the second tram to advertise the radio station following on from 3095 in 2017. The choice of 3103 is appropriate as Hits Radio can be found on 103FM in Manchester (as well as digitally across the UK). As is normal the advert features vinyls on the body sides – avoiding the ends which remain in standard fleet livery – and includes contravision.

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Another drop in punctuality for Metrolink

The latest performance stats on Manchester Metrolink have shown that in the four weeks between 29th April and 26th May there was a further deterioration in punctuality across the network. Reliability also saw a drop although this was minimal.

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This week on British Trams Online

We have double the helping of Photo Galleries for you this week with photos from two areas of the Midlands:

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Increase in passengers on Luas

Luas has enjoyed its best year yet for passenger numbers with 37.65 million passenger journeys recorded in 2017 – an increase of 3 million on the previous years figures. The Luas increase is part of a general trend in Ireland for subsidised public transport which saw a total of 252 million passenger journey, up by 16 million from 2016.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 710

We feature another tram which is now part of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust collection in this edition of Picture in Time – Balloon 710.

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Volk’s Electric Railway 6 & 10 prepared to return

The second and third of the three Volk’s Electric Railway cars which were overhauled by Alan Keef Ltd in Ross on Wye are currently being prepared for a return to service with both hoped to be back in use in time for the peak summer season. Nos. 6 and 10 are now both back in Brighton where work is underway to fully commission them for service.

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