The Merseyside four to return to the Fylde Coast

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Four trams whose future has been in doubt since the end of last year following news that Merseytravel were seeking to dispose of them have been saved and are starting to return to the Fylde Coast. Brush Cars 625 and 637 along with Twin Trailer Cars 681 and 687 were acquired by Merseytravel for the Wirral Waters project which would have seen the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway extended but following the formal abandonment of this project they were deemed surplus to requirements and made available for purchase. All four trams have been purchased by a private purchaser and will be stored at the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust’s site at Wyre Dock.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 2 Comments

Tram and Light Rail journeys in England up once again

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Tram and light rail usage in England has reached record levels (well since 1983 when records began anyway – it was probably a lot higher in the heyday of the tram!) according to the latest figures released by the Department for Transport. 239.8 million journeys were recorded in the 12 months up until the end of March 2015 which is a 5.6% increase since 2013/14. Much of the increase is down to the Docklands Light Railway, Tyne and Wear Metro and Manchester Metrolink who have all enjoyed a significant rise during this period. Unfortunately the rosy picture doesn’t extend across England with as Midland Metro, South Yorkshire Supertram and Blackpool Tramway all recording decreases.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Docklands Light Railway, London Trams, Manchester Metrolink, Nottingham Express Transit, South Yorkshire Supertram, West Midlands Metro | 1 Comment

Crich Event Preview: Classic London – 13th & 14th June

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Over the weekend of Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th June the Crich Tramway Village will be celebrating all things London with the Classic London event. The highlight of the weekend will undoubtedly be the return to service of London County Council 106 following an overhaul but there will also be plenty of other activities to keep you happy.

Continue reading →

Posted in Event Previews, National Tramway Museum | Comments Off on Crich Event Preview: Classic London – 13th & 14th June

In Pictures: Blackpool Boat 228 in San Francisco

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

As the majority of readers to this website will probably be well aware there are two Blackpool Boat cars in San Francisco running on the historic F-line. One of these was, of course, the subject of British Trams Online sponsorship a few years ago when under the ownership of the Lancastrian Transport Trust and was then sold to San Francisco to join their fleet although you may be relieved to know that this article is not concerning 233 and we won’t be going into that whole sorry saga this time! No this time we are concentrating on 228 which has been in San Francisco since 1984 and is a popular member of the historic fleet there.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 5 Comments

Picture in Time: Great Orme Tramway 4

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

We are heading up the mountain today in “Picture in Time” as we feature an image of one of the fleet of trams used on the Great Orme Tramway – no. 4.

Continue reading →

Posted in Great Orme Tramway, Picture in Time | Comments Off on Picture in Time: Great Orme Tramway 4

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 7 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

There are another two Photo Galleries for you to enjoy this week as part of our main site update:

Continue reading →

Posted in East Anglia Transport Museum, Nottingham Express Transit, Site News | Comments Off on This week on British Trams Online

Picture in Time: South Yorkshire Supertram 05

Posted on Sunday 7 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Its time for another trip to the second of the UK’s new on street tramways for this installment of “Picture in Time” as we take a look at South Yorkshire Supertram 05 in April 1994.

Continue reading →

Posted in Picture in Time, South Yorkshire Supertram | Comments Off on Picture in Time: South Yorkshire Supertram 05

More non-runners shunted at Crich

Posted on Saturday 6 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Since the article published on British Trams Online regarding the placement of Southampton 45 in the Great Exhibition Hall at Crich Tramway Village, it is pleasing to report that the tram has been removed from its inappropriate position in the chronological display showing the development of tramcar design. After about a week it was returned to the main depots, having been moved to allow Sheffield 15 be extracted for operation on a number of special days in May.

Continue reading →

Posted in National Tramway Museum | Comments Off on More non-runners shunted at Crich

In Pictures: Oh I do like to be beside the seaside…in Derbyshire!

Posted on Saturday 6 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The Crich Tramway Village was turned into a seaside resort for a nine day event from Saturday 23rd to Sunday 31st May as the annual “Beside the Seaside” event took place once again. This family oriented event saw a fun fair at the museum alongside another visit from Woodies Wings and their collection of birds. There was also a beach for the children to play in and a visit from a band playing in the bandstand in Victoria Park. And of course there was a tram service for each day mainly utilising Blackpool trams but some other towns and cities were also represented, particularly when the weather prevented the use of the open Blackpool trams!

Continue reading →

Posted in National Tramway Museum | 9 Comments

In Pictures: Seaton Tramway runs 24 hours for charity

Posted on Saturday 6 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Between 1300 on Wednesday 27th and 1300 on Thursday 28th May a 24 hour charity Tramathon took place on the Seaton Tramway with tram no. 4 running a return trip every hour in aid of Prostrate Cancer UK, Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Epilepsy Research UK. Although a few trips during the night (when a special flat return fare was on offer) ran without passengers the event was declared a success with raffle tickets also being sold to raise funds for the charities. £1825.83 has been raised so far for the four charities from the event.

Continue reading →

Posted in Seaton Tramway | Comments Off on In Pictures: Seaton Tramway runs 24 hours for charity

Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 701

Posted on Friday 5 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

It is back to Blackpool for the latest instalment of “Picture in Time” with a view from 1993 of Blackpool Balloon 701 when it was wearing the Red and White “Routemaster” livery for the first time.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Picture in Time | 2 Comments

In Pictures: London County Council 106 returns to the rails

Posted on Thursday 4 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

On Thursday 4th June London County Council 106 made a return to the rails at the Crich Tramway Village as it underwent some testing and driver refamilirisation on the mainline at the home of the National Tramway Museum. 106 had last run in 2010 when it was withdrawn from service requiring workshop attention which it has been receiving since last year thanks to sponsorship from the London County Council Tramways Trust.

Continue reading →

Posted in National Tramway Museum | 1 Comment

In Pictures: Deansgate-Castlefield outbound platform re-opens

Posted on Thursday 4 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

As expected on Tuesday 2nd June the new outbound platform at Deansgate-Castlefield reopened to Manchester Metrolink services for Altrincham, Eccles, MediaCityUK and East Didsbury. On the same date the new TMS control system for the three track layout was brought into use meaning trams can now use the full flexibility of the new layout.

Continue reading →

Posted in Manchester Metrolink | Comments Off on In Pictures: Deansgate-Castlefield outbound platform re-opens

In Pictures: Edinburgh Trams celebrate one year of service

Posted on Thursday 4 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Edinburgh Trams reached its first anniversary of passenger service on Sunday 31st May and to celebrate the occasion the trams ran over the anniversary weekend with balloons in the cabs. Special anniversary silver hats were also handed out onboard the trams and Edinburgh Trams ran a competition on Twitter encouraging people to post selfies wearing the silver hats with the best photo winning a year’s free Ridacard.

Continue reading →

Posted in Edinburgh Trams | Comments Off on In Pictures: Edinburgh Trams celebrate one year of service

Going for a ride…

Posted on Thursday 4 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Once again we look ahead to when and where you can enjoy a ride on a traditional tram in the British Isles with our regular round-up. The next week will see the Seaton Tramway enjoy their annual Classic Car Show on Sunday 7th June where a regular tram service will also run alongside the chance to have the Driver’s Eye Experience taster session whilst up at the Crich Tramway Village cars are the order of the day as well with a two day event on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June entitled Car Rally – Domestic and Fun. And looking slightly further ahead the following weekend will see the return to service on London County Council 106 at Crich during the Classic London event, but more on that soon. In the meantime if you want to find out when and where you can go for a ride read on…

Continue reading →

Posted in Going for a ride | Comments Off on Going for a ride…

Another Urbos 3 enters service on Midland Metro

Posted on Wednesday 3 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

After a break of several weeks of new trams entering service Wednesday 3rd June saw the latest Urbos 3 enter service on Midland Metro with 30 operating its first passenger carrying duties. 30 had been undergoing extensive testing and commissioning over the past few weeks and with this now completed the tram was accepted by Midland Metro for use on the line between Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton St George’s.

Continue reading →

Posted in West Midlands Metro | 1 Comment

Plans for Blackpool Jubilee 761 future continue

Posted on Wednesday 3 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

It has now been confirmed that Blackpool Transport and Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust have reached agreement over returning Blackpool Jubilee car 761 to service although the return of this historic tram will not now be until 2017.

Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 13 Comments

Picture in Time: Blackpool Marton VAMBAC 11

Posted on Tuesday 2 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

It is the turn of Blackpool Marton VAMBAC 11 to feature in our archive photo series “Picture in Time” today with a couple of images showing the tram at Hayling Island and at Beamish 43 years apart.

Continue reading →

Posted in East Anglia Transport Museum, Picture in Time | 6 Comments

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 31 May 2015 by Gareth Prior

We have more photos for you this week on British Trams Online with images from the Isle of Man, Volks Electric Railway and Blackpool all featuring:

Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Douglas Bay Horse Tramway, Manx Electric Railway, Site News, Snaefell Mountain Railway, Volk's Electric Railway | Comments Off on This week on British Trams Online

Picture in Time: Manchester Metrolink 1005

Posted on Sunday 31 May 2015 by Gareth Prior

Today “Picture in Time” is back in Manchester and the featured subject is T68 1005 which was caught on camera ahead of opening in February 1992.

Continue reading →

Posted in Manchester Metrolink, Picture in Time | Comments Off on Picture in Time: Manchester Metrolink 1005