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.”
Blackpool’s flexities are getting rather long in the tooth, most being around 15 years old.
If I recall correctly, Midland Metro replaced their original T69s at around that age, and Manchester Metrolink their T68s and T68as at 20 years old.
I wonder if Blackpool have any plans (or funds!) in place to permit similar action?
The book life of modern trams is around 30 years with a mid-life refurbishment. The T68 in Manchester was replaced early partly because significant corrosion was found during examination as part of the planning for mid-life refurbishment. Investigation showed that the cost of replacing the damaged steelwork in the solebars would be very expensive due to the steel sections being of a bespoke design and not readily available. The early batches of M5000 vehicle was already on order and financially it made better sense to withdraw the T68 and T68A fleets early. The T69 cars also appear to have suffered corrosion problems and additionally problems were envisaged in designing the proposed extensions to be compatible with the T69 in terms of them coping with gradients and curvature likely to be experienced in the city centre. An additional problem across all three types was component obsolescence which was making spares procurement difficult. This is a common problem with rail rolling stock, in some cases components become obsolete as the vehicles enter service.
But doesn’t the ‘Book Life’ assume a mid-life refurbishment? Is there any sign of such a thing actually happening?
There is also the worrying issue of the Starr Gate depot, of course, as a legal case in 2020, I believe, determined the life expectancy of the building to be 20 -25 years, rather than 50.
You would hope work can be undertaken to sort the Flexities out. They should have a 25 to 30 year lifespan. There were never enough and they were overworked as the B fleet were hardly used as the specials they should have been.
The Tramway will not be given more money for new vehicles I don’t think and it will close.
Perhaps a deal could be arranged to coordinate a joint fleet replacement with Nottingham or Croydon, or even Edinburgh when their fleet comes up for renewal. Trams really should last around 30 years but the Blackpool Flexity fleet does seem to be unusually unreliable and they look exceptionally tatty compared to other tram fleets. Will one eventually be housed in Rigby Road with the heritage fleet I wonder!
I believe that Bombardier Transportation generally agree a maintenance programme with the systems to whom they supply cars.
It appears that Blackpool chose not to participate in this, as BTS would undertake maintenance themselves, it seems.
If the latest ORR Report is correct, this doesn’t appear to have worked out well.
Pointless as the trams aren’t compatible – none of our Trams can run on each other’s tramways!!!!
Edinburgh is probably the closest but they won’t need Trams for a long time yet.
As each month passes the inherited mess is starting to be laid bare. It was a error of judgement to previously try to “spin” the speed restriction timetable though.. should have come clean then.
The biggest problem with the Blackpool Tramway is and always has been the operating environment with the corrosive effects of sand and salt water. I wonder whether but doubt if any budgeting allowance has been made to reflect this situation. Hopefully, funds can be found to carry out the necessary works to the Flexity fleet and in the meantime to cover for any shortages, maybe attention should be given to the B Fleet, which would offer a far more satisfactory alternative than bus replacements.
if the newer tramway was to close, then the starr gate tram depot could be used as the new location for tram town?
Or a depot for the new electric buses that replace the trams?
As BTS apparently lose money on a regular basis, the new electric wonderbuses may be indefinitely postponed.
If the Tramway closes, everything will go.
If they need to augment the bus facilities serving the South Promenade and Fleetwood as scheduled services such as the No. 1, then at least the ENCTS pass holders from outside the area will benefit, as these are currently valid specifically on the buses alone. As they say ‘it’s an ill wind …’.
Shop around for some bargain price second hand trams with at lrast 10-15 years life expectancy.Replacement trams don’t have to be new.
I’d like to know what genius decided to put the new depot on the promenade, where it and the vehicles housed in it would be at the mercy of wind-blown salt spray all year round?
Blackpool’s climate brought about the early demise of the Coronations, Made the Centenary cars require major bodywork attention after just 20 years and generally plays havoc with any street furniture. Look at what happened to the wave organ and have a close look at the relatively new railings on South Shore if you want more evidence.
The fact is Blackpool is a very hostile environment for anything mechanical. Connect that with the generally poor design and build quality of modern trams and it’s a really good recipe for trouble.
One thing that is interesting is the ORR referring to the Flex trucks at ‘bogies’. My understanding has always been that a bogie can rotate independently of the vehicle. Sheffield supertrams have bogies, as do the trams in Manchester. However Blackpool, Edinburgh and various other places with 5 or 6 section articulated units went for the inferior fixed truck design with unsupported articulated units between them. So a modern LRV as in Blackpool is effectively three old fashioned 4-wheel trams coupled together with unsupported ‘towbars’. The short wheelbase of the trucks means they can whip and twist on the track, which is amplified by the weight of the unsupported bodies. This gives rise to poor ride quality, increased track wear and potential fatigue fractures (West Midlands style) to the vehicles themselves. The truck twisting could also lead to increased risk of derailments, particularly where there is rail or wheel-flange wear, which is what I think the ORR are worried about.