Scenic T68s: Manchester Metrolink 1013

Posted on Monday 2 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

The second LRV to feature in this short series commemorating the first anniversary of the withdrawal of the last of the T68s is 1013 which was last used in service on 2nd December 2013.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 1 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

This week we have another two Photo Galleries for you as part of our main site update:

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In Pictures: 3094 enters service on Manchester Metrolink

Posted on Sunday 1 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

Continuing the rapid entry into service of new M5000s soon after their delivery to Manchester, 3094 has now carried its first passengers. As with other recent LRVs which have entered service 3094 was used on the Manchester Airport line for its first day which was on Saturday 31st January. It had been delivered to Queens Road Depot on Saturday 17th January and has joined the non ATS/VRS equipped fleet.

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Scenic T68s: Manchester Metrolink 1023

Posted on Sunday 1 February 2015 by Gareth Prior

This Tuesday (3rd February) will mark the first anniversary of the last run normal passenger runs of Manchester Metrolink’s original fleet of trams – the T68s. To mark the occasion (and also because I have been having a sort out of emails and photos sent through to us and found some images which haven’t been used!) over the next three days we be bringing you images taken by Lee Stanford of the trams on the Eccles branch, photos which show just how scenic areas of the Manchester Metrolink can be. Our first image features 1023.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink, Scenic T68s | 1 Comment

Seaton unveil events for 2015

Posted on Friday 30 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

Southern England’s only operational heritage tramway, the Seaton Tramway, have become the latest organisation to reveal their event plans for 2015. As well as the regular Bird Watching Trips, Dinosaur Tram and the evening events at the Tramstop Restaurant this year will also see a new Branch Line Tour take place once a month between February and September looking at the history of the line.

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Picture in Time 26: Leeds 602

Posted on Friday 30 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

Featuring for the second time in our “Picture in Time” series is Leeds 602. Last time we took a look at the tram we were in 1994 but our time machine has gone back to 1980 for this image as we see 602 working at the National Tramway Museum.

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Another Urbos 3 enters service

Posted on Friday 30 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

Ten different Urbos 3s have now carried passengers on Midland Metro following the entry into service of 31 on Thursday 29th January. This day saw a seven-three split of Urbos 3/T69s in service with an eighth Urbos 3 also out and about with 33 on test.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 2 Comments

More snow woe for Supertram

Posted on Friday 30 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

Of all the tram systems in the UK Stagecoach Supertram suffers most when snow falls with its large amount of street running and the height of parts of the route and the past few days has once again seen some disruption to services, although as is always the case a lot of the delays have been caused by broken down or abandoned cars blocking the tracks. This latest batch of snow started to fall late on Wednesday 28th January and that evening saw the first disruption which continued for much of the following day.

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Posted in South Yorkshire Supertram | 6 Comments

Trams to return to Wolverhampton St George’s in March

Posted on Friday 30 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

After much rumour and debate it has now been confirmed by Centro that Midland Metro services should return to the full length of the route to Wolverhampton St George’s in March. The official announcement states that work has resumed on relaying the tracks along Bilston Road after engineers devised a way of tackling the unstable and potentially dangerous site.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 2 Comments

In Pictures: Manchester Metrolink in the snow

Posted on Friday 30 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

Sheffield was not the only UK tramway to be hit by snow this week with Manchester Metrolink also seeing a slight covering but this caused very few problems for the service. Steve Kemp went out with his camera to take a selection of images at Sale Water Park alongside the M60 showing the M5000s making light work of the snow.

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Winter work at Crich Tramway Village

Posted on Thursday 29 January 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Despite being closed to paying customers since early November, there is still plenty going on at Crich Tramway Village this winter. The major project has been the renewal of the interlaced track passing beneath the Bowes Lyon Bridge, which is now largely complete. This has included some much-needed drainage works, as well as cleaning of the stone setts before they are restored in situ. However, many other jobs are being carried out around the museum site, involving both vehicles and buildings.

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Midland Metro welcome first new Urbos 3 of 2015

Posted on Wednesday 28 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

Friday 23rd January saw the arrival at Wednesbury of the latest CAF built Urbos 3 tram when 34 was delivered following its long journey from Spain, on the back of two loaders as usual. Unlike most recent deliveries which arrived early in the morning this time the tram arrived at its new home at 1450 and was unloaded shortly after 1700 before being moved into the workshops for initial commissioning.

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Car collides with tram in Manchester City Centre

Posted on Wednesday 28 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

It seems you can’t go too long on Manchester Metrolink without another incident involving a car with the latest such incident occurring on Tuesday 27th January. This time a cab managed to drive into the path of a double unit (led by 3022) on Mosley Street at the junction with Nicholas Street – by no means the first time a car has come into contract with a tram at this location.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 10 Comments

New Tramlink Sunday service proves popular

Posted on Wednesday 28 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

10% more passengers are now using London Tramlink services between Wimbledon and New Addington on Sundays following the introduction of the enhanced timetable in mid December. On 14th December the frequency was increased from every 15 minutes to every 7/8 minutes and this has seen more passengers using the service.

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Posted in London Trams | 1 Comment

Docklands Light Railway strike called off

Posted on Wednesday 28 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

The 48 hour strike called by RMT members and due to start on Wednesday 28th January on the Docklands Light Railway was called off the day before after negotiations between the RMT and KeolisAmey Docklands.

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Blackpool 671 is back at Rigby Road (again!)

Posted on Monday 26 January 2015 by Andrew Waddington

There was an unexpected delivery at Blackpool’s Rigby Road tram depot on the morning of Monday 26th January, when Twin car motor 671 returned home following a lengthy period of outside storage at Marton. 671 was the last of the historic Blackpool trams formerly owned by the Lancastrian Transport Trust to be rescued and moved to a new/old home, and this move really does mark the end of this controversial organisation’s involvement in the tramcar preservation movement.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Fylde Transport Trust | 2 Comments

Bad news for two preserved Blackpool trams

Posted on Monday 26 January 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Two popular preserved Blackpool tramcars have started 2015 on a negative note, after many years of reliable service. Beamish Museum’s Sunderland 101 – best known by many of us as Blackpool Balloon 703 – has recently been withdrawn from use, whilst at Crich Tramway Village, the chances of a quick return to service for Blackpool & Fleetwood ‘Rack’ 2 appear to have diminished.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway, National Tramway Museum | 11 Comments

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 25 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

For the first time in 2015 we have a main site update on British Trams Online with four galleries uploaded, two of which feature new photos (and the other two are the Advent Calendar images being transferred across):

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Picture in Time 25: Blackpool Pantograph 167

Posted on Saturday 24 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

What better tram to feature as our first Picture in Time of 2015 than the tram which won the “Tramcar of the Year” – Blackpool Pantograph 167. Over the past 12 months this tram has featured countless times on the pages of British Trams Online but never have we seen in the same state as we show it today – during its restoration at Bolton in the mid 1980s.

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Stockport Council call for tram-train connection

Posted on Saturday 24 January 2015 by Gareth Prior

Stockport Council have recently unveiled a new vision for rail travel in the area with four major priorities. As well as improving existing railway stations and ensuring that HS2 brings benefits to the local area the Council are calling for Metrolink to reach Stockport by way of the current Marple to Manchester Piccadilly rail service being converted.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 5 Comments