New carriage wash commissioned at Gosforth Depot

Posted on Tuesday 11 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

Trains on the Tyne and Wear Metro network should have that extra sparkle next time you see them following the commissioning of an all new carriage wash at Gosforth Depot which can be used by both the old and new trains. The installation of the new facility is just one part of the £70 million rebuild of the depot complex in preparation for the introduction of the new state of the art trains being built by Stadler.

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In Pictures: Edinburgh 264 gets a revised advert

Posted on Monday 10 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

Recently on Edinburgh Trams we haven’t see too many new advertisers on the CAF built vehicles, and that’s not because advertising is reducing. It is in fact because existing advertisers obviously consider it to be an excellent way to promote their products as they keep on renewing contracts which then sees revised adverts being applied to trams. And its that category that we report on again here as 264 has recently received some new vinyls for The Real Mary King’s Close – this time a full wrap.

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West Midlands Metro bounces back to pre-Covid passenger numbers

Posted on Monday 10 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

Transport for West Midlands and West Midlands Metro are celebrating the return of passenger numbers on the network to pre-Covid passenger numbers following the release of the latest statistics from the Department for Transport (which actually took place in September 2024, although staffing numbers were revised at the end of February 2025 which seems to have given a nudge to celebrate the numbers!). The year to the end of March 2024 saw over 8 million journeys recorded on the network – its highest number ever.

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Old(er) and New – West Midlands Metro: Wolverhampton St George’s

Posted on Monday 10 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

This may be a bit of a cheat but we continue with the “Old(er) and New” series by heading to the now West Midlands Metro and former Midland Metro system. The premise of the series remains the same as we go to the same location on the network and view something old and something new, but whereas when in Blackpool it was a heritage tram and a modern tram for the West Midlands Metro its one of the first generation of the modern trams – the T69s – and one of the newer CAF built trams which are featured. We start off at the end of the original line – and somewhere which currently sees no trams, old or new.

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Stop by Stop Edinburgh Trams: Through the City Centre and beyond – Saughton

Posted on Sunday 9 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

We reach the last stop in this section of the Edinburgh Trams system as “Stop by Stop” takes a look at Saughton.

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Supertram introduce temporary timetable

Posted on Sunday 9 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

South Yorkshire Supertram have announced that they will be operating a temporary timetable from Monday 10th March “due to additional ongoing maintenance”. No date has been set for how long this temporary timetable will be in operation.

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New LRSSB podcast looks at success of women in light rail

Posted on Sunday 9 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

The latest edition of the LRSSB podcast celebrates the contribution of women to the ongoing success of light rail to help mark International Women’s Day which took place on Saturday 8th March.

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What’s New on British Trams Online? 9th March 2025

Posted on Sunday 9 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

Another set of photos from the West Midlands Metro this week as we go back to November 2024:

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In Pictures: KFC return to advertising on West Midlands Metro

Posted on Saturday 8 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

KFC have a new advert on the West Midlands Metro – the second time they have advertised on a tram from that system within the past year, presumably showing they felt the first one was a success! This time its 53 which is carrying the vinyls, the first wrap that this particular tram has carried.

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Around the World in Trams: Nice 015

Posted on Saturday 8 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

We go “Around the World in Trams” again as we take another look at a tram in Nice.

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Edinburgh Trams celebrate women in light rail

Posted on Saturday 8 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

As International Women’s Day is celebrated, Edinburgh Trams are the latest tram operator to mark the occasion with a look at some of their female colleagues who are living examples that the sector isn’t completely dominated by men.

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NET staff hope to inspire more women to join the sector on International Women’s Day

Posted on Saturday 8 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

26% of people working in the transport sector are women according to figures released by Women in Transport. As International Women’s Day is marked across the globe, four women who currently work at Nottingham Express Transit have shared their stories with the operator’s official website hoping to inspire others to follow their path into the light rail industry.

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A trip to… Blackpool Tramway

Posted on Friday 7 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

With the Blackpool Tramway currently still being in its winter season there are only trams running every 15 minutes end to end with the majority going via North Station on their way between Starr Gate and Fleetwood Ferry. It means there is less variety to capture on the line with the full Flexity2 fleet not required to operate that service. As the new enhanced service due to operate by the summer still waited this pictorial article takes a look at some sights of the trams on Wednesday 5th March 2025. Steven Hughes with the images.

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West Midlands Metro support International Women’s Day

Posted on Friday 7 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

International Women’s Day is an annual celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, and this year West Midlands Metro will mark their support of the day with a special event to honour the contributions of female colleagues.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool OMO 3

Posted on Friday 7 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

Another edition of “Picture in Time” as we again feature the Blackpool Tramway on a snowy January 1979 day.

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In Pictures: More tram moves on the West Midlands Metro

Posted on Thursday 6 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

We’re pretty sure that if you wanted to illustrate trams being moved by lorry you would use something of the West Midlands Metro – mainly because there have been so many of them to choose from! And we now have another couple of entries as there has been a swap of trams at the Black Country Very Light Rail Innovation Centre in Dudley.

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Metrolink 3091 & 3102 loses Starling Bank adverts

Posted on Thursday 6 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink 3091 and 3102 has become the latest trams on the Manchester Metrolink network to say goodbye to their advertising vinyls with one being returned to fleet livery and another going pink!

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In Pictures: Beamish trackworks continue

Posted on Wednesday 5 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

With the tramway at Beamish have been closed since the start of January this has allowed a concerted effort to be made on various maintenance jobs to take place. This has included some major rail replacement works at the east end of the 1900s town to be undertaken, which is the main feature of this article thanks to photos from Gordon Bulmer.

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Edinburgh Trams announce first fare increase since 2023

Posted on Wednesday 5 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

The cost of travelling on the Edinburgh Trams system is set to increase from Sunday 6th April to help the firm meet the increased operational costs faced by the operator, and is in line with similar changes being made by sister company Lothian Buses.

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In Pictures: Overhead support masts continue to go up on WMM extension

Posted on Tuesday 4 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

We are going off to the West Midlands Metro’s Black Country line extension again this evening as we take another look at some of the recent progress on construction. This time we concentrate on the installation of the overhead support masts which has been one of the focuses of attention in recent months. Chris Allsop-Buckler took a walk along part of the route to capture these images.

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