Picture in Time: Manchester Metrolink 1002

Posted on Sunday 22 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

With the Manchester Metrolink stop at Victoria now re-opened following a years closure as part of the “transformation” works in preparation for the construction of the Second City Crossing (2CC) today’s “Picture in Time” visits the old Victoria with an image of T68 1002 back in 1992 and as a bonus we also find the LRV elsewhere on the same day.

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Metrolink services resume through Victoria

Posted on Saturday 21 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

After a year of disruption Manchester Metrolink services through Victoria have finally resumed, although initially not quite the full service which had been expected. It had originally been thought that Saturday 21st February would see a full Bury-Ashton under Lyne service return but in the end the Abraham Moss shuttle continued to run during the morning before this was extended to Piccadilly for “testing purposes”.

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In Pictures: Wolverhampton rail replacement works

Posted on Saturday 21 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

As we march towards, well, March and the planned reopening of the Midland Metro line between The Royal and Wolverhampton St George’s progress is continuing on the much delayed rail replacement project and with thanks to Michael Averill we are able to bring you another photo update of what has been happening recently.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Standard 147

Posted on Saturday 21 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

Today we have two “Pictures in Time” as we take a look at Blackpool’s Standard 147 in 1962 and 2009 – of course for a large period of time between these two years the tram was in the USA but both these images come from its time in Blackpool.

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Welcome back Victoria!

Posted on Friday 20 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

After 12 months of disruption Manchester Metrolink services are once again calling at Victoria although for the next few days this will be serving as a terminus for trams from Bury and Rochdale. Single line running has been in operation through Victoria since February 2014 to allow major transformation work to take place but from the start of service on Wednesday 18th February this was sufficiently completed to allow the stop to re-open.

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More changes for Midland Metro fleet

Posted on Friday 20 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

The last couple of weeks have seen more changes to the Midland Metro fleet with another Urbos 3 arriving in the West Midlands whilst a further T69 seems to have run its last passenger journeys.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 2 Comments

NET delays after car and tram collide at High School

Posted on Friday 20 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit suffered delays for two hours on Friday 20th February after a car hit a tram close to the High School stop at approximately 1245. The car pulled out of a side street and hit the tram but no injuries were reported in either vehicle. After the emergency services had dealt with the problem the tram was returned to depot and normal services resumed on NET.

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Supertram Engineering Works: Sunday 22nd February 2015

Posted on Friday 20 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

Overnight engineering works at Arena will affect early morning services on the Yellow route to Meadowhall on Sunday 22nd February. Trams will run as normal as far as Arena with a replacement bus service running between Attercliffe and Meadowhall picking up at all available bus stops via Attercliffe Common. Trams should start running normally again by 1030 and if the work is completed ahead of scheduled the bus service will be withdrawn earlier than planned and trams will operate throughout.

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Public consultation launched for Bradley Lane Park and Ride

Posted on Friday 20 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

Centro have launched a three week public consultation on their plans to add another Park and Ride site to Midland Metro. This time a 196 car park would be constructed at Bradley Lane allowing Metro travellers to park for free to travel to Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

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In Pictures: More destinations from the past appear in Blackpool

Posted on Thursday 19 February 2015 by Andrew Waddington

The dedication of French tram enthusiast Peter Watts continues to bear fruit, with three members of the Blackpool Heritage Trust’s collection of trams now sporting brand new period-style destination blinds which he has kindly made at no cost to the Trust, and these were fitted during a visit to Rigby Road on February 17th. Following on from Twin set 272+T2, the latest beneficiaries of Peter’s efforts are Brush Railcoach 631 and Balloon 715 – the latter of course being in the works ahead of a planned return to service during 2015.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 16 Comments

Blackpool trams to line up at Beamish

Posted on Wednesday 18 February 2015 by Andrew Waddington

A special mini-event aimed at tram enthusiasts is to be held at Beamish Museum on the weekend of Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th March. This will feature an intensive four-tram service, behind-the-scenes tours and photo opportunities, the highlight of which is likely to be a line-up of four former Blackpool trams in front of the depot on both days. In addition, this event will provide one last chance to ride on Blackpool 280 before it leaves to begin a new life at Manchester.

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In Pictures: Liverpool 245 back on track for public launch

Posted on Tuesday 17 February 2015 by Andrew Waddington

On Saturday 15th February, Liverpool 245 undertook a succesful day of test running on the Birkenhead heritage tramway. This follows some further remedial work to try and rectify problems which had been experienced with the tram following its initial testing after a major restoration, financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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Picture in Time: Leeds 155

Posted on Tuesday 17 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

Today’s archive image in the “Picture in Time” series comes from Leeds from way back on 8th November 1958 and shows Horsfield car 155 – the first production car of this famous class of trams.

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MTPS members to decide Warrington 2’s future

Posted on Tuesday 17 February 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Members of the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society are set to be given a unique opportunity to decide on the future for one of the Society’s collection of vintage tramcars. The derelict lower deck of Warrington 2 was acquired by the MTPS from the St Helens Transport Museum several years ago, and since then a significant amount of work has been undertaken to restore the tram to operational condition. However, the car has sat untouched for the last two years for a number of reasons, and now an important decision needs to be made regarding its future preservation.

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Spring is in the air at Heaton Park

Posted on Monday 16 February 2015 by Andrew Waddington

The 2015 season got underway at Manchester’s Heaton Park Tramway on Sunday 15th February – the first public operating day for this popular attraction. Although trams had in fact operated for some private guests the week before, this was the first time since before Christmas that a proper passenger service had been operated on the tramway and appropriately it was the park’s flagship tramcar Manchester 765 which inaugurated the year’s service.

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A Valentines Day surprise from Blackpool Transport

Posted on Monday 16 February 2015 by Andrew Waddington

To the amazement of many people, two of Blackpool Transport’s modified ‘B Fleet’ Balloon cars were used in ordinary passenger service on Valentines Day, Saturday 14th February. The two chosen cars were 700 and 719, both of which spent the day running between Pleasure Beach and Little Bispham to a set timetable.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Coronation 642

Posted on Friday 13 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

We head back to Blackpool for our latest “Picture in Time” image and this time our time machine ends up in August 1968 with a view of one of the immensely popular Coronation Cars – no. 642.

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Market Street Metrolink stop to get makeover

Posted on Friday 13 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

Market Street stop in Manchester City Centre is set to receive a makeover to improve its appearance and to make it easier for passengers to circulate around the stop. The work will start from 2000 on Friday 13th February with the first phase seeing the stop closed to passengers until Saturday 21st February (this phase has been timed to coincide with the final works at Victoria).

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Next phase of Supertram rail replacement works announced

Posted on Friday 13 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

The 2015 phase of rail replacement works on Stagecoach Supertram will commence on 28th March and will continue until the end of August with four distinct phases of track closures. The first phase will be between Hillsborough and Infirmary Road and will affect services on both the Blue and Yellow routes although details of a revised timetable have yet to be confirmed.

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Normal service is resumed – collision and errant car on tracks trouble Metrolink

Posted on Friday 13 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

The past few days has seen more problems for Manchester Metrolink with cars once again causing problems. On Tuesday 10th February a car drove into a tram close to St Peter’s Square and this was followed just two days later by a car managing to make a wrong turn and finding itself on the tracks at Baguley.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 11 Comments