Author Archives: Gareth Prior

Up they go – Metrolink performance increase again

Posted on Sunday 24 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

If you were suspicious you would think that when there is good news with the performance stats on Manchester Metrolink they are a lot quicker to release the figures as it has only taken just over two weeks for TfGM … Continue reading →

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In Pictures: Sunderland 16 returns to service

Posted on Sunday 24 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

Having spent the best part of the last couple of months out of service with a failed resistor grid, Sunderland 16 made a welcome return to service at Beamish on Saturday 23rd March adding some extra capacity to the tram … Continue reading →

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 24 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

We head off north of the border this week to bring you some images from Edinburgh:

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Metro Brierley Hill extension gets funding green light

Posted on Saturday 23 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

The West Midlands Metro is set to continue its major expansion in the forthcoming years following the news that the West Midlands Combined Authority have given the final go-ahead for the cash to be made available for the line to … Continue reading →

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Picture in Time: South Yorkshire Supertram

Posted on Saturday 23 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

This week we move north from Croydon to Sheffield to start a series of archive images from the Supertram network, starting off with an image during testing.

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In Pictures: Around and about at Beamish

Posted on Saturday 23 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

With it now being less than a month until the Great North Steam Fair kicks off at Beamish it is very much the lull before the storm – especially with it being outside of school holidays as well – with … Continue reading →

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Runaway Snaefell car was travelling and nearly four times line speed

Posted on Saturday 23 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

Ever since Snaefell Mountain Railway 2 overshot Bungalow Station in August 2017 with passengers on board there has been a lot of speculation as to what happened, not helped by the apparent secrecy of the Health and Safety at Work … Continue reading →

Posted in Snaefell Mountain Railway | 4 Comments

In Pictures: Edinburgh 276 gets new advert

Posted on Friday 22 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

Christmas is now officially over in Edinburgh following the removal of the Christmas and Hogmanay advert on 276 – only three and half months late! 276 has now become the latest tram to advertise the Parabola development at Edinburgh Park … Continue reading →

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Two more battery trams for West Midlands Metro

Posted on Friday 22 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

The next two West Midlands Metro trams to have batteries installed are seeing excellent progress in the fitting of the equipment although at the time of writing neither have been fully completed. The two trams are 23 and 19, which … Continue reading →

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M5000 3006 reaches one million not out!

Posted on Friday 22 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

How hard working the trams on Manchester Metrolink are has been brought into the public eye with the news that 3006 has become the very first of the M5000 trams to reach one million kilometres. The tram first carried passengers … Continue reading →

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In Pictures: Opening Day of 2019 season at Crich

Posted on Thursday 21 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

As we reported at the weekend another season of operation is now underway at the Crich Tramway Village with daily opening starting on Saturday 16th March. The first day saw Leeds pair 345 and 399, Glasgow 22 and Berlin 223 … Continue reading →

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Tramlink strike to go-ahead after talks break-down

Posted on Thursday 21 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

London Tramlink services are likely to be severely disrupted on Thursday 28th March after talks at ACAS between ASLEF and FirstTram Operations ended without agreement. A recent ballot of ASLEF members on Tramlink found an overwhelming majority in favour of … Continue reading →

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Picture in Time: Great Orme Tramway 5

Posted on Thursday 21 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

Starting off a short series of images from Llandudno’s Great Orme Tramway today as we continue Picture in Time.

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In Pictures: Tree cutting on West Midlands Metro

Posted on Wednesday 20 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

Over the years that West Midlands Metro has been operating the trees alongside the tramway have become more and more overgrown, adding to problems with leaf fall on the tracks as well as potentially causing overhead problems with overhanging branches. … Continue reading →

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Tram allocations announced for next Winter Gold

Posted on Wednesday 20 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

It may be Spring but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to fit in another Winter Gold operation in Blackpool over the weekend of 23rd and 24th March. The standard winter timetable will be in operation with six trams in … Continue reading →

Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Event Previews | 3 Comments

Tyne and Wear Metro performance edges up

Posted on Wednesday 20 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

The latest four week period of performance on the Tyne and Wear Metro has seen a small increase although it is still at a disappointing level, especially for anyone who is trying to get around the region and relying on … Continue reading →

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New support package announced for businesses affected by Metro extension

Posted on Tuesday 19 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has agreed a support package for businesses affected by the construction of West Midlands Metro extensions. The initiative will be specifically targeted towards businesses who have frontages directly affected by construction.

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“Tram surfing” back in the news

Posted on Tuesday 19 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

It’s a story almost as old as trams have been about but “tram surfing” is once again in the news with several images appearing of youths “surfing” on the back of trams in Manchester leading to TfGM issuing a warning … Continue reading →

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 723

Posted on Tuesday 19 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

We stay in 1983 for this week’s archive image from Blackpool and this time we feature a couple of the iconic Balloon Cars.

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In Pictures: Prototype Metro cars in service

Posted on Monday 18 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

When the Tyne Wear Metro fleet went through refurbishment there were four which it was decided wouldn’t enjoy this work, the prototype pair 4001 and 4002 plus 4040 and 4083. These units can only work with each other and currently … Continue reading →

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