The project to create a new Access Tram at the National Tramway Museum has moved a step closer to completion with Blackpool Centenary 645 leaving the depot yard for the first time since the conversion began.
645 was accompanied by fellow Blackpool vehicle – the Blackpool Electric Locomotive (although the first time the two would have met would have been at Crich) as it headed out for a full line run. The main object was to check clearances as well as the alignment of the overhead for its pantograph. All seemed to run successfully as the project continues.
It is planned that 645 will be launched into service at the start of Tram Weekend on Saturday 12th September (Tram Weekend will also take place the following day). The official unveiling will take place at 1030 with Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward amongst other invited guests set to be present. It will commence its first journey at 1045.
The first passenger set to be invited on-board will be Tom Attwood, a regular visitor to the museum who’s limited movement was making accessing the other trams more difficult. Tom’s brother, Jonathan, launched Berlin 223 006-4 when it was launched as the museum first Access tram in 1997.
645 will be able to carry three wheelchair users plus 25 seated passengers. As has been widely publicised it has also been designed to allow wheelchair users to drive the tram under supervision – thought to be the first in the world for a heritage tramway.
Graham Bennett, Chief Executive of the National Tramway Museum, said: “The launch of our new Access Tram is one of the most significant moments in the museum’s history. Heritage should be for everyone, and this project demonstrates that preserving the past and embracing innovation can go hand in hand.
“Our volunteers, engineers, funders and supporters have achieved something remarkable. Thanks to their dedication, thousands more people will now be able to experience the magic of travelling on a historic tram.”
Work to complete the conversion continues in Crich’s Workshop.