The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have issued Blackpool Transport an improvement notice with concerns over the degradation of the bogies on the fleet of Flexity2 trams which operate the core service.
The full wording on the improvement notice states: “You have failed to take so far as is reasonably practicable appropriate measures to control and mitigate known risks associated with bogie degradation which could give rise to derailment or collision. I require you to remedy those said contraventions, or as the case may be, the matters occasioning them, by 19th June 2026.”
It was actually issued to Blackpool Transport on 6th May 2026 (around the time that a revised timetable was introduced with additional running time for the trams, which was presumably a mitigation about the perceived risk of the bogie degradation), but has only just been made public. This delay is down to the ORR’s usual procedure where they don’t publish details of notices until after the standard appeal period which is 21 days (this doesn’t mean that the notice was appealed in this case though).
The notice goes on to give two items which Blackpool Transport should complete to comply with it:
- Identify reasonably practicable measures to control and mitigate the known safety risks arising from bogie degradation including risks associated with safety‑critical defects that could give rise to derailment or collision. Such decisions on whether bogies may be returned to, or remain in, operational service should be based on defined decision criteria and the effectiveness of the measures implemented to mitigate risk of derailment or collision.
- Implement the measures identified by the assessment in paragraph 1 and document that those measures have been implemented and are effective, before any vehicle fitted with any of the above bogies is returned to, or remains in, operational service.
Following the publication of the notice, Blackpool Transport said: “Working closely with the ORR, we have already made improvements to our maintenance reporting processes, primarily, the way risks and associated mitigation measures are documented. While the Improvement Notice identified shortcomings in documentation associated with some specific repairs, we would like to assure customers that safety has always been our top priority, with appropriate measures put into place to address any potential risks. We will also continue to work with the ORR, suppliers, industry partners, and other key stakeholders to ensure trams remain one of the safest forms of public transport.”
Blackpool Transport had identified the bogies as needing overhaul work this past winter which saw a number of trams taken out of service, and led to a reduced timetable being introduced. But it appears that despite this action problems have remained and they have now been given until 19th June 2026 to comply with the notice.
Alstom (who took over manufacturer Bombardier) are quoted on the BBC: “We’re not aware of any specific risks associated with bogies produced by us. But, in general, they are subject to continuous wear, stress and environmental exposure, and must be maintained within strict intervals to preserve safety and reliability.
“With other customers – such as Nottingham Express Transist (NET) – we offer servicing and maintenance, however Blackpool Transport does theirs in-house.”