Out and About: Edinburgh Trams – Ocean Terminal

Edinburgh is once again the location for “Out and About”.

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Manchester Metrolink Then & Now: Collyhurst Road

We now return to “Manchester Metrolink Then & Now” – our series where we take a look at a location on the Metrolink network either before or during construction and after trams started to run. The series resumes on the Oldham and Rochdale line at Collyhurst Road.

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In Pictures: Supertram 125 fails at Hillsborough

There were slight delays caused to services on the Stagecoach Supertram network (on what was the last day of Stagecoach operation!) on Thursday 21st March after Siemens-Duewag built tram 125 suffered a fault at Hillsborough tramstop.

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Review of light rail safety document completed

A document which sets out the core principles of light rail safety has been reissued to the industry after a review was completed by sector experts. More than 200 amendments have been made to the Tramway Principles and Guidance (TPG1) which was first published by the Office of Road and Rail over a decade ago.

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What’s New on British Trams Online? 14th April 2024

More photos from the recent archives this week and we’re off to a special Blackpool Day at the Heaton Park Tramway in 2010:

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RAIB report in Nottingham derailment released

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch have released a report into the derailment of Citadis 232 at Bulwell on Nottingham Express Transit which occurred at 1706 on 12th June 2023. In the report they set out what caused the tram to be derailed as well as providing recommendations to try and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

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Around the World in Trams: Kolkata 71

Another edition of “Around the World in Trams” coming from Kolkata in India.

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Metrolink 1024 – we missed a scrapping!

Sometimes there are just news stories which pass us by and we’re never aware of them until a long time after it happened, and this is definitely one of those situations! Manchester Metrolink 1024 – which we last had as being stored at Long Marston seems to actually been scrapped in August 2022 so we’re only about 19 months late with this one!

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Metro to play key role in West Midlands major investment for a green transport revolution

Could we be seeing even more extensions to the West Midlands Metro network? With work underway on both the Birmingham Eastside and Wednesbury-Dudley-Brierley Hill lines, plans by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) could see even more built as part of the major investment in a green transport revolution for the region.

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Coventry Very Light Rail scheme has bid for funding rejected

Hopes that passengers may be carried on Coventry’s Very Light Rail (VLR) scheme in 2025 seem to have been dashed after reports that the Department for Transport rejected a bid for funding. The news of the funding rejection comes following a Freedom of Information request by the BBC which confirmed a bid for £36.8 million of funding made last year was rejected as DfT officials questioned whether Coventry would be the right place for VLR.

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In Pictures: Track down in Digbeth

The press releases on the Birmingham Eastside West Midlands Metro extension keep telling us about the progress being made on the construction of the route in various locations whilst also reminding us that it will be some time before trams actually start running because of the HS2 works at Curzon Street. Whilst we do have the promise that it won’t quite be as late as it might for some of the route with a temporary terminus due to be built by the Clayton Hotel there do remain significant sections of the 1.7km long route which will not be seeing a tram for some time.

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Picture in Time: Stagecoach Supertram 124

Today is the final part of “Picture in Time” featuring the Stagecoach years of operation on the Supertram network in South Yorkshire.

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In Pictures: Round-up of Easter work on West Midlands Metro

Services on the West Midlands Metro returned to normality (or the normality we’ve come to expect in recent months since the opening of the Wolverhampton Railway Station extension) on Wednesday 10th April as expected following the major works which were undertaken over the Easter period. Whilst the big headline news was the joining up of the current line with the extension to Dudley at Wednesbury as we’ve already seen at the same time there was more work undertaken on the existing line with rail replacement at various stops. Andy Walters provides a photographic round-up of some of the work.

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Extra trams for Manchester Marathon

The adidas Manchester Marathon will be taking place on Sunday 14th April and with around 32,000 runners set to take part as well as thousands more watching the race, residents are being advised to plan their journey in advance and to use public transport where possible to reduce congestion. To help move the crowds there will be extra trams running on Metrolink’s Altrincham line as well as additional doubles in action across the network.

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South Shields FC help Metro celebrate 40 years

South Shields FC – who play at the 1st Cloud Arena stadium which is right next to the Tyne and Wear Metro station at Bede – have taken a break from their promotion push from the Vanarama National League North to present Nexus with a special commemorative shirt to help celebrate 40 years of the South Tyneside line.

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In Pictures: 3064 becomes latest tram to join the advert club in Manchester

And so it continues! Manchester Metrolink M5000 3064 has now become the latest tram to receive advertising vinyls in the fleet following the application of a design for New York City, complete with images of the Statue of Liberty.

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In Pictures: Burton & Ashby 14 in service at Statfold Barn Railway

Burton & Ashby 14, the sole tram at the Statfold Barn Railway, is once again ready for service in 2024 with it being used at special events which take place at the railway. With no overhead at the railway the 3’6” gauge tram runs on battery power as it has done ever since it was restored following repatriation from Detroit in the United States of America. Its first use for 2024 was over the weekend of 16th and 17th March with it in passenger service all day rather than the few hours per day its seen use at other recent events.

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Some DLR services to be short-formed ahead of introduction of new trains

Passengers using the Docklands Light Railway route between Stratford International and Woolwich Arsenal may have recently noticed that their service doesn’t have quite as much capacity as it did with confirmation that until further notice they will be short-formed.

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In Pictures: Overhead back all the way to North Station

After what seems to have been some time since there was even the glimpse of positive news for the start of tram services to Blackpool North Station its somewhat pleasing to report that the last week or so has seen a slight change which may just be good news that we may see trams running that way at some point in the future. Photos courtesy of Peter Dockerty.

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Early May resumption for Metrolink services from Victoria onto 2CC?

As you may have read in the comments section as part of our recent article about track repairs on Portland Street, the Manchester Evening News is reporting that services may resume between Victoria and Exchange Square from early May. The story was published with quotes from Danny Vaugan (TfGM’s Head of Metrolink) which suggest than an end to this disruption may be on the way.

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