NET Citadis 224 named

Posted on Thursday 10 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

The number of Citadis trams running on Nottingham Express Transit without a name continues to fall with the latest to have received a name being 224. On Wednesday 9th December 224 received the name Vicky McClure after the Wollatton born actress best known for her role in Shane Meadows’ critically acclaimed film This is England. The only trams to be nameless now are 225, 226 and 231.

Posted in Nottingham Express Transit | 1 Comment

Santa Claus is coming to the tramways!

Posted on Thursday 10 December 2015 by Andrew Waddington

As is the norm for this time of year, Father Christmas has been very busy not only preparing presents for the big day itself, but also meeting youngsters at various tramways across the UK. As well as the previously advertised Santa Specials in Blackpool, he has also made appearances at Beamish, East Anglia and Heaton Park so far this month.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Ex-Towing Railcoach 679

Posted on Wednesday 9 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

It’s another visit to Blackpool for the latest tram to feature as part of the Picture in Time series with an image of Blackpool Ex-Towing Railcoach 679 in 1993.

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Extensions open in Birmingham and Manchester

Posted on Sunday 6 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Sunday 6th December was another historic day for UK tramways with both Manchester Metrolink and Midland Metro opening short extensions on the same day – and the best bit of this is that this is just the start of the lines they opened on! Openings in Manchester have been very regular occurrences over the past few years but for Midland Metro this was the first extension since the original line opened.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink, West Midlands Metro | 9 Comments

Tramlink welcomes 2563 to town

Posted on Sunday 6 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Early on Sunday 6th December another low loader with a tram on the back arrived at its new home. This time the lucky recipients were London Tramlink with 2563 the tram being delivered to their Therapia Lane Depot.

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Posted in London Trams | 1 Comment

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 6 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

More photos for you this week plus updates to some Fleet Lists and the Events Diary…

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Picture in Time: Manchester Metrolink 1017

Posted on Sunday 6 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink T68 1017 is the latest tram to feature in our Picture in Time series as we take a look at the tram in 1992 at Altrincham.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink, Picture in Time | 1 Comment

Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours get bigger and better for 2016!

Posted on Friday 4 December 2015 by Andrew Waddington

After a hugely successful 2015, the Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours team have already planned for an even more ambitious operating schedule next year! After a few years of cutbacks and a general air of uncertainty, 2015 has been a massive turning point for the retained heritage trams and they are set to operate even more frequently in 2016, with an increased number of special ‘gold’ event days and, remarkably, winter running!

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 2 Comments

Seven more trams for Luas

Posted on Friday 4 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Dublin’s Luas tram network will be receiving seven extra trams before the end of 2017 as part of the Cross City project which will see an extension to the exisiting network. The seven trams will once again by Citadis trams as built by Alstom but will be the longest trams yet seen in Dublin with nine sections instead of the current seven.

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Posted in Dublin Luas | 2 Comments

In Pictures: Manchester Metrolink 3107 enters service

Posted on Friday 4 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

3107 has become the latest Manchester Metrolink M5000 to enter revenue earning service with it being allocated to the Rochdale to Ashton-under-Lyne service on Friday 4th December. The tram had been delivered to Manchester on 14th November and has been undergoing the usual commissioning and mileage accumulation process before being released into traffic. This leaves just last week’s arrival – 3108 – to enter service of those trams already in Manchester and this is likely to carry its first passengers before Christmas.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 3 Comments

More Purple route changes on Stagecoach Supertram

Posted on Friday 4 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

With the continued tram shortages being experienced on Stagecoach Supertram (thanks in no small part to the collision at Shalesmoor in October) a further change to the Purple route timetable has been revealed; this time, though, it is more drastic with weekday services being severely curtailed.

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In Pictures: Christmas arrives on Metrolink

Posted on Friday 4 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

As it is now only three weeks to Christmas (in fact it is exactly three weeks today until the big day!) the decorations are starting to go up across the country and Manchester Metrolink is no different with large window vinyls being added to a number of the M5000s. The vinyls cover all windows along the side of the trams currently decorated and state that “Nowhere does Christmas like Greater Manchester” with Father Christmas also putting in appearance. At least eight trams (3001, 3005, 3042, 3045, 3078, 3088, 3095 and 3105) have been fitted with the vinyls so far.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 7 Comments

Edinburgh to allow mobility scooters on trams for trial period

Posted on Friday 4 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Edinburgh Trams are to allow mobility scooters to travel on board for a trial period from 1st January 2016 in a similar scheme to that seen on Manchester Metrolink. Any mobility scooters users are now being invited to sign up for a permit which will allow them to travel on board the trams between 1st January and 31st March 2016.

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 2 Comments

DLR workers to strike for 17 days in New Year

Posted on Friday 4 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

The ongoing dispute between members of the RMT union and KeolisAmey Docklands (operators of the Docklands Light Railway) is set to escalate significantly in the New Year with strikes lasting a total of 17 days having been called. The RMT continue to claim that their members still feel they are not being listened to with alleged bullying, breaches of agreements and the use of agency staff.

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Posted in Docklands Light Railway | 1 Comment

Overnight parking on the way for Metrolink car parks

Posted on Friday 4 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

It has been announced that free overnight parking will be available at 15 selected Manchester Metrolink car parks on Friday and Saturday nights from Friday 4th December as part of a three month trial. More than 2,500 parking spaces will be open for Metrolink passengers with the one proviso being that the car must be collected by noon the following day.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 1 Comment

Preparations step up for Birmingham City Centre extension opening

Posted on Wednesday 2 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

The last couple of days have seen a major step up in testing on Midland Metro’s Birmingham City Centre extension with the first powered test run taking place on Tuesday 1st December followed by a simulated recovery of broken down tram the next day.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 6 Comments

Picture in Time: Sheffield 287 & 530

Posted on Wednesday 2 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

The latest image in the “Picture in Time” series goes back into the black and white era of 1958 as we visit the original tram system in Sheffield for an image in the city centre at a location where you can once again take photos of trams.

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Sheffield 264 progress update

Posted on Wednesday 2 December 2015 by Andrew Waddington

It has been a little while since we provided an update on the major overhaul of Sheffield 264 at Beamish Museum, with our last update on the project concerning the reunion of top and bottom decks. Since this milestone achievement work has continued on the tram, which is rapidly approaching completion – in fact, it is expected to commence test running before the end of 2015.

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Happy Birthday to us!

Posted on Tuesday 1 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

Today (1st December) sees us celebrate our 13th birthday (and we enter the tricky teenage years)! Yes back on 1st December 2002 the unsuspecting internet saw the launch of a brand new website dedicated to trams and light rail in the UK. At that time there was very little else on the internet concentrating on trams in the UK but since then there has been a major increase with at times it seeming that a new website is launching every month! When we started the website was a much smaller affair and a weekly update would normally take about two hours to complete on a Sunday morning – how times change! Either more happens in 2015 than it did in 2002 or we just find out about more! A huge thanks to everyone who has contributed to the website either on a regular basis or even just the once – without you there would be no website and thanks to everyone who just reads it as without you there wouldn’t be any point to the website! Here’s to the next 13 years!

Posted in Site News | 12 Comments

In Pictures: The UK’s first Tram Train arrives in Sheffield

Posted on Tuesday 1 December 2015 by Gareth Prior

At 2140 on Monday 30th November a little piece of history was made when the very first tram train arrived at its new home following a lengthy journey from Spain. The Vossloh built vehicle arrived on the back of a Allelys low loader in the dark and was driven into the confines of Nunnery Square Depot and spent its first night in South Yorkshire awaiting unloading.

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Posted in South Yorkshire Supertram | 11 Comments