Beamish trams on the turn!

Posted on Thursday 16 February 2017 by Andrew Waddington

February has seen not one, not two, but three of the resident tramcars at Beamish Museum placed on a low loader! However, none of the cars have actually left the museum grounds, but this was simply a means of turning each of them around to even out the amount of wear and tear on their wheels and other vital components.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway | 6 Comments

Second City Crossing opening date announced

Posted on Wednesday 15 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

The latest piece of the Manchester Metrolink jigsaw will be opened to the public on Sunday 26th February – subject to the successful completion of final testing and commissioning. The “transformative” Second City Crossing runs from St Peter’s Square – which has enjoyed major reconstruction in preparation – to Victoria via Exchange Square with initially trams from East Didsbury to Shaw & Crompton/Rochdale Town Centre using the line.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 5 Comments

New voluntary Permanent Way Engineer appointed at Crich

Posted on Wednesday 15 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

Dermot Kelly has been appointed as the voluntary Permanent Way Engineer at Crich Tramway Village. The new role has overall responsibility for managing for track infrastructure from ensuring it is safe for day to day operation through to the planning and executing of track upgrades and renewals.

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NET driver lands top award

Posted on Wednesday 15 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit tram driver Daniel Patterson has received an Employee of the Year Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the network. This accolade is presented annually to a member of staff following nominations from colleagues throughout the year.

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Posted in Nottingham Express Transit | 2 Comments

Edinburgh Trams nominated for more awards

Posted on Wednesday 15 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

Edinburgh Trams has been nominated in five categories at the 2017 Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. Taking place on Monday 27th February Edinburgh Trams has been nominated as Best Performing Business, Creative Marketing, High Growth, Excellence in Health and Safety and Young Leader of the Year.

Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 1 Comment

Defibrillators to be carried on all Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Wednesday 15 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

Every tram in the Edinburgh Trams fleet is to carry a potentially life saving defibrillator as part of the St John and the City public access defibrillator project. The aim of the project is to place the devices at strategic sites across Edinburgh. The new defibrillators will not only be used if someone on a tram is taken unwell but can also be used if a member of the public suffers a cardiac arrest in the vicinity of a tram.

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An early start for daily heritage tours in Blackpool

Posted on Tuesday 14 February 2017 by Andrew Waddington

Due to the school half-term holidays taking place during February, Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours have started running a daily heritage service – the earliest in the year that this level of service has ever been provided since the tramway’s light rail upgrade. Due to variation in the dates of school holidays, this will last for a fortnight. From 11th to 24th February, the familiar ‘blue’ service will be operating every day with two trams in use and this has already provided a few surprises!

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Picture in Time: Great Orme Tramway 4

Posted on Tuesday 14 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

And we are off to Wales for the next edition of Picture in Time as we go black and white for an image of the Great Orme Tramway in August 1963.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 12 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

We have another small collection of photos for you in this week’s main site update:

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In Pictures: Urbos 3 27 back in service

Posted on Sunday 12 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

No sooner had Midland Metro’s Urbos 3 27 undergone a test run then it returned to service with its first passenger runs in several months taking place on Saturday 11th February. Allocated to diagram three the tram left depot on the 0458 to Grand Central and then remained in service for the rest of the day. Of note is that one saloon of 27 has been fitted with new LED lighting with the other end still featuring the traditional strip lighting as carried on all other trams.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 2 Comments

Picture in Time: Docklands Light Railway 33

Posted on Saturday 11 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

Today in Picture in Time we are on our way to the capital for a look at the Docklands Light Railway. The unit we are featuring this time around is one of the B90s, no. 33.

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A new roll for Bispham Station

Posted on Saturday 11 February 2017 by Andrew Waddington

One of the most distinctive structures on the Blackpool tramway is without a doubt the impressive building on the seaward side of the tracks at Bispham. As well as providing shelter to passengers waiting for a tram, this once housed an inspector’s office and toilets, but the area has been somewhat neglected in the recent past – until now!

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 9 Comments

In Pictures: Midland Metro Urbos 3 27 on test

Posted on Friday 10 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

After several months out of service – following a collision with a road vehicle in Wolverhampton – Urbos 3 27 is nearing a return to service with the tram undergoing a test run on Friday 10th February.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 1 Comment

Heaton Park Tramways receives a delivery from Metrolink

Posted on Friday 10 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

The Heaton Park Tramway – the UK’s one truly preserved tramway and described in a recent press release as Manchester’s second tramway (although you could suggest Metrolink is Manchester’s second tramway!) – have recently received a new delivery from Manchester Metrolink. But this is not the much anticipated arrival of T68 1007 – that excitement is for the future – but rather a selection of tram rail and fittings which are spares from the construction of the Second City Crossing.

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Posted in Heaton Park Tramway, Manchester Metrolink | 2 Comments

English Trams and Trolleybuses tour now on sale

Posted on Friday 10 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

Have you ever wanted to do a tour of many of England’s tram and trolleybus systems and museums but haven’t quite known how to organise it? Well the good news is an escorted tour of several systems across England is being run by renowned holiday firm Ffestiniog Travel this year and there are still places available!

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 701

Posted on Thursday 9 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

Picture in Time today takes a look at another long gone all over advert, indeed the hotel being advertised no longer exists either, as we feature Blackpool Balloon 701 in 2006 whilst it was carrying this design for the Palm Beach Hotel.

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In Pictures: 3116 back in service on Metrolink

Posted on Tuesday 7 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

A few days ago we brought you the news that Manchester Metrolink 3116’s had finally returned to service some five months after it last turned a wheel in anger. Further to that story it can now be confirmed that the tram has now visited Eccles and Ashton-under-Lyne and then worked with 3094 on the East Didsbury circuit. With thanks to Steve Kemp we bring you a few photos of 3116 back in use.

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Picture in Time: Leeds 600 & Glasgow 812

Posted on Tuesday 7 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

It is the summer of 1971 for this edition of Picture in Time as we head to a quarry in Derbyshire which is, of course, home to the National Tramway Museum or as it is known today the Crich Tramway Village.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum, Picture in Time | 2 Comments

Douglas 28 on the move

Posted on Monday 6 February 2017 by Andrew Waddington

It may be remembered that last year, a small number of Douglas horse trams were sold off at auction. Initially it was announced that, once sold, the trams would all have to be removed from Strathallan depot within a fairly short timescale, but one of them managed to remain on site into 2017. However, on 1st February Douglas 28 finally left the tramway behind en route to a new home at an unconfirmed location.

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Posted in Douglas Bay Horse Tramway | 2 Comments

In Pictures: Sheffield to Rotherham Tram-Train project

Posted on Sunday 5 February 2017 by Gareth Prior

This week not only do we report on a breakdown of one of the tram-train vehicles but we also bring you another photo update on the construction side of the project from the camera of Glyn Hill. With the project now not likely to see its first services until 2018 (at the earliest) there is still some progress on the construction and in this update we concentrate at the Rotherham end of the line.

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Posted in South Yorkshire Supertram | 3 Comments