This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 24 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

Our first new Photos of the year are the main addition to the website this week:

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In Pictures: Birmingham City Centre extension progress

Posted on Sunday 24 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

With the first stage of the Midland Metro Birmingham City Centre extension as far as Bull Street having opened in December attention and anticipation has now turned towards the remainder of the line through to New Street Station. Construction works are continuing on both the tracks, overhead and stops with the latest word from Centro and Midland Metro being that the line will open to New Street in the “Spring”. This picture special shows the current state of play in the construction works as at Saturday 23rd January with photos provided by Ken Jones.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 4 Comments

Picture in Time: Manchester Metrolink 1022

Posted on Sunday 24 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

Today’s Picture in Time heads back to UK’s largest modern tram system, Manchester Metrolink, and the tram we feature is T68 1022 with a trio of images from the very first day of cross-city on street operations – 27th April 1992.

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No Government takeover for Douglas Horse Tramway

Posted on Friday 22 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

As the fallout from the decision last night of Douglas Borough Council to axe the horse tram service with immediate effect continues one hope of enthusiasts has been dashed with the Manx Government confirming they currently have no plans to take control of operating the line along the Promenade. Indeed the Department of Infrastructure have even confirmed that they will be pressing ahead with their plans for the reconstruction of the Promenade – just leaving out the installation of tram tracks.

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Posted in Douglas Bay Horse Tramway | 11 Comments

Heaton Park reveal 2015 operating statistics

Posted on Friday 22 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

The Heaton Park Tramway – the UK’s only truly preserved tramway – have announced their operating statistics for 2015 which saw 5,7000 passengers carried on the half mile running line from the Middleton Road gates to Lakeside.

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Let it snow! The white stuff hits Metrolink

Posted on Friday 22 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

The first snowfall of the winter arrived in time for some picturesque shots of Manchester Metrolink on Sunday 17th January. Although only a light dusting fell on Greater Manchester causing no real issues for Metrolink services Steve Kemp was out and about with his camera capturing the action shown in this pictorial special…

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 4 Comments

More controversy as Edinburgh Trams inquiry bill reaches £2 million

Posted on Friday 22 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

There have been calls from politicians for the Edinburgh Trams inquiry to be scrapped following news that £2.1 million has already been spent on the inquiry – even before a single witness has been called in front of Lord Hardie. The Inquiry was called to get to the bottom of why the Edinburgh Trams project went so far over budget and was severely delayed but despite the fact it started in June 2014 there is still a long way to go before lessons can be learnt.

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 3 Comments

Car hits tram in Oldham

Posted on Friday 22 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink services were suspended between Oldham Mumps and Newton Heath and Moston for just over an hour on Wednesday 20th January following a collision between a car and a tram on West Street in Oldham. The car struck 3011 at approximately 1130 causing significant damage to the side of the tram but fortunately there were no serious injuries in either the car or the tram. Trams ran between Rochdale Town Centre and Oldham Mumps and from Newton Heath and Moston to Ashton-under-Lyne during the incident. The scene was cleared by 1245 after which normal services started to resume.

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Edinburgh Trams to offer ScotRail passengers during disruption

Posted on Friday 22 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

Edinburgh Trams have come to an agreement with ScotRail which will mean at times of disruption on the rail network ticket holders will be able to travel on the tram network free of charge. The tram currently serves the stations at Edinburgh Waverley (St Andrew Square is just a short walk away), Haymarket and Edinburgh Park with the new Edinburgh Gateway interchange to follow at the end of 2016.

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Smartcards launched on Midland Metro

Posted on Friday 22 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

You can now pay to travel on Midland Metro services using the new Swift Pay As You Go card. The smartcard is cheaper way to buy day tickets and single fares and can be used just the same as cash by handing it over to the onboard conductor and telling them which ticket they want.

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Douglas Horse Tramway to close

Posted on Friday 22 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

In a shock announcement Douglas Borough Council have revealed that the Douglas Horse Tramway is to close with immediate effect due to “the increased financial burden on Douglas ratepayers”. The project to merge the horse stables and tramway depot into one building seems to have been the final straw which caused the decision with Councillors deciding it was not a viable idea.

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Posted in Douglas Bay Horse Tramway | 46 Comments

New name for a heritage tram stop

Posted on Thursday 21 January 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Many readers have probably noticed that for much of 2015, literature regarding the heritage tram operation in Blackpool referred to the North Pier heritage tram stop as North Pier/Tower (or vice versa). This was due to the actual stop being positioned outside the Festival House wedding chapel, which is between the two prominent promenade landmarks.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 9 Comments

Winter warmers(?) for Blackpool’s first heritage days of 2016!

Posted on Thursday 21 January 2016 by Andrew Waddington

Only a few weeks have passed since the last trams ran back to Blackpool’s Rigby Road depot after the 2015 Santa Specials, but already plans are in place for the first heritage tram running days of 2016. As reported previously, as an experiment two winter weekends will see a premium heritage service operate and this kicks off on the weekend of 30th & 31st January, with six trams due to run on both days.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 3 Comments

Picture in Time: Blackpool Ex-Towing Railcoach 678

Posted on Wednesday 20 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

The subject of the latest edition of Picture in Time is one of three Twin Motor Cars which were never permanently coupled to their trailers – 678.

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And the winners are

Posted on Sunday 17 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

After seven weeks of voting the results are in for the British Trams Online Tram of the Year 2015 contest although to be honest contest was hardly the word with the outcome pretty certain from the first week of voting back in December. All four awards are heading back to the north west of England with Blackpool once again being recognised by enthusiasts in two categories with Manchester Metrolink’s M5000 3100 winning Tramcar (Modern) of the Year whilst Liverpool 245 won the main award as Tramcar (Traditional) of the Year.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 17 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

We don’t have a huge amount for you this week but we have had a little bit of a tidy up of the site…

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Picture in Time: Croydon Tramlink 2530

Posted on Sunday 17 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

The very first tram delivered for Croydon Tramlink is the latest to feature in our archive series “Picture in Time” with a view of 2530 during the testing process during August 1999.

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Lytham 43 is Blackpool-bound!

Posted on Saturday 16 January 2016 by Andrew Waddington

2016 is just a few weeks old but already there is some very exciting news from the Blackpool Heritage Trust about a new addition to their collection of historic tramcars. As reported last year, the owner of Lytham 43 has agreed for the tram to move to Blackpool to join the heritage fleet after completion of its restoration, and it can now be confirmed that the lower saloon will be moving later this month!

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 5 Comments

Cars drive onto Metrolink tracks four times in a week

Posted on Friday 15 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

It is silly season in Manchester with four cars driving onto Metrolink tracks on various parts of the network in the past week causing disruption and leading to the almost unprecedented step of Transport for Greater Manchester releasing a statement urging motorists to be careful when driving.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 13 Comments

Picture in Time: Douglas 27

Posted on Wednesday 13 January 2016 by Gareth Prior

As we featured the Santa Specials on the Douglas Horse Tramway yesterday evening it seems rather apt from today’s Picture in Time image comes from that very tramway with a view of regular wet weather tram no. 27 on 26th August 1992.

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Posted in Douglas Bay Horse Tramway, Picture in Time | 1 Comment