Stop by Stop Blackpool Tramway: Lindel Road

Posted on Sunday 10 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

This is another edition of “Stop by Stop” with our journey continuing northbound on the Blackpool Tramway towards Fleetwood Ferry.

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Metro bridge in North Tyneside to be replaced in £3 million project

Posted on Sunday 10 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

This summer is set to see a major Metro bridge replaced as part of a £3 million project which will also create space for better bus links and road freight to North Shields Fish Quay. The Tanners Bank bridge is located on the Metro line between Tynemouth and North Shields and will be replaced during a 14 day line closure in July.

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For Sale! OO-scale tram layout

Posted on Sunday 10 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Does anyone want an OO-scale tram layout? We have been contacted by contributor Geoff Pickles who is looking to dispose of his model tram layout as he is no longer able to maintain it and is now looking to dispose of it. Read on for more details and photos of what is on offer.

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What’s New on British Trams Online? 10th April 2022

Posted on Sunday 10 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Just the one set of photos this week as we head to the Heaton Park Tramway’s 40th(+2) Birthday Celebrations:

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Tramlink drivers to be balloted for industrial action

Posted on Saturday 9 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

ASLEF members on London Tramlink are to be balloted with a view to starting industrial action over a pay dispute. Drivers are currently subject to a pay freeze with the previous pay deal having expired six months ago and Tram Operations Limited (TOL), operators of the network, having yet to bring a new deal to the table.

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Around the World in Trams: Uetlibergbahn 2

Posted on Saturday 9 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

We are again at the Lucerne Transport Museum for this edition of “Around the World in Trams”.

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In Pictures: Extension works continue in Edinburgh

Posted on Saturday 9 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

We’re back off to Edinburgh today as we take another look at extension works on the Edinburgh Trams system. With trams sent to be running to Newhaven in little over a year (as long as they remain on schedule!) good progress continues to be made on installing the track and constructing the platforms.

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Busiest Sunday ever for Metrolink!

Posted on Saturday 9 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Over the past couple of years we’ve run numerous stories on low passenger numbers, reduced services and the like as the restrictions of the pandemic hit home so it makes a very nice change to report that Sunday 3rd April was the busiest ever Sunday on Manchester Metrolink! Over 114,000 passenger journeys were recorded with numbers driven by the Manchester Marathon – rumours that Heaton Park Tramway’s 40th(+2) birthday celebrations which took place on the same day helped to push numbers to the record level cannot be confirmed though!

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West Midlands Metro services to resume by the end of May?

Posted on Friday 8 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

It looks like there will be no service on the West Midlands Metro until the end of May as repairs to the trams continues at Wednesbury Depot. The news that it will take over two months between initial suspension and a resumption in services has come in the latest official update on the West Midlands Metro website.

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Great Orme Tramway and Volk’s Electric Railway get ready for reopening

Posted on Friday 8 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

We’re about to see some more heritage lines carry their first passengers for the year with both the Great Orme Tramway and the Volk’s Electric Railway set to reopen for another season of operation. The Great Orme Tramway will be first out the blocks with trams set to run from Saturday 9th April with the Volk’s Electric Railway following two days later.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 705

Posted on Friday 8 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Over the next few weeks we will be taking a look at another set of shots Donald Brooks took in the early September of 1976 in Blackpool as “Picture in Time” continues.

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In Pictures: Heaton Park Tramway celebrates 40 years (and a bit more!)

Posted on Thursday 7 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

The pandemic has meant many things have been put on hold, and that has included celebrations of many types. Manchester’s Heaton Park Tramway had originally been due to celebrate their 40th anniversary at the end of March 2020 but just days before the country went into the first lockdown and so all plans were put on hold. Little did anyone know at the time but the celebrations would be delayed for a full two years with the 40th(+2) birthday event finally being able to take place on Sunday 3rd April; this was also the first day of the 2022 operating season.

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Posted in Event Reviews, Heaton Park Tramway | 4 Comments

Good news from Manchester as punctuality and reliability increase

Posted on Thursday 7 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

The latest data released by Transport for Greater Manchester has shown that both punctuality and reliability on Manchester Metrolink has increased in the latest quarter. Covering the period 12th December 2021 to 5th March 2022 punctuality has now reached 88.9% whilst reliability is at 97.6%.

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Latest Edinburgh Trams “Tramtastic” award winner hailed as a lifesaver

Posted on Thursday 7 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Stuart Mearns, Assistant Engineering Manager at Edinburgh Trams, has become the latest recipient of a “Tramtastic” award after he administered first aid to a member of the public involved in a collision with a train at Edinburgh Gateway.

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In Pictures: Trams return to York Place – passengers don’t!

Posted on Wednesday 6 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Monday 28th March saw the return of trams to York Place as services on Edinburgh Trams started to run between West End and St Andrew Square again. Trams had stopped running beyond West End on 10th February to allow work to progress on demolishing the old York Place stop and although this has now gone forever trams are running to where it once was again to use the crossover to allow them to switch tracks and reverse back to the Airport.

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Still no trams to Halfway as Glossop Road issue fixed on Supertram whilst trams return to Fleetwood Ferry

Posted on Wednesday 6 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Trams on Stagecoach Supertram can now run between Cathedral and Shalesmoor after the damage caused by a bus colliding with an overhead support pole was fixed but there is still no end in sight to thee overhead issues on the route out to Halfway. Meanwhile, over in Blackpool and it’s a full route once more following the end of the gas mains work on Lord Street in Fleetwood allowing trams to run through to Fleetwood Ferry.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, South Yorkshire Supertram | 1 Comment

Out and About: Jasper Carrott in action on the WMM

Posted on Wednesday 6 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Its time for another edition of “Out and About” as we head onto the West Midlands Metro – pre-suspension obviously – for another shot of a tram in service.

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Testing and commissioning starts to Edgbaston

Posted on Tuesday 5 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Its been rare lately to have a positive news story from the West Midlands Metro but for once we can report on one as the first tram has reached Edgbaston Village on the second phase of the Birmingham Westside extension. Urbos100 45 was used for the first slow speed runs overnight on 4th April as finally more progress is seen on opening the delayed extension.

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In Pictures: Metrolink 3138 delivered to Manchester

Posted on Tuesday 5 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

M5000 enters service to mean everything has run in service again and then the next one arrives seems to be a familiar pattern which has once again been repeated. Coming just a few days after 3137 entered service on the East Didsbury service than 3138 makes the journey from Germany. The one change to this story is that instead of arriving on a Saturday lunchtime it turned up on Sunday morning!

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Split of final round of pandemic light rail support confirmed

Posted on Tuesday 5 April 2022 by Gareth Prior

Last month it was confirmed that bus and light rail operators in the UK would be sharing £150 million of additional funding – the last set of pandemic related funding to help services to continue whilst passenger numbers recover. At the time the split of this funding was not announced although in a recent press release from the Department for Transport this was included.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink, Nottingham Express Transit, South Yorkshire Supertram, Tyne and Wear Metro, West Midlands Metro | 1 Comment