In Pictures: More tracklaying at Wilko’s

Posted on Thursday 1 July 2021 by Gareth Prior

Its another day and another day of progress with the installation of track towards the new tram terminus on the Blackpool Tramway! Following on from yesterday’s look at the first sections of track being laid on the track base we return to the scene again where some further track has now been laid as the rails gets ever closer to the end of the line. Tony Armitage is our photographer once more.

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UKTram to develop new standards for driver trainers

Posted on Thursday 1 July 2021 by Gareth Prior

Starting in July, UKTram is to give a boost to training for tram drivers by working with colleagues across the sector to develop a new set of standards for driver trainers. This new initiative – which is part of a wider National Occupational Standards (NOS) project – will see the publication of new guidelines setting out the key responsibilities of tram driver trainers as well as the required competencies.

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Lockdown Walks: Manchester Metrolink 3110

Posted on Thursday 1 July 2021 by Gareth Prior

Today’s “Lockdown Walks” takes a look at Manchester Metrolink on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday.

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In Pictures: First track laid at Wilko’s

Posted on Wednesday 30 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

We’ve been building up to this day for the past few weeks but Wednesday 30th June has seen the first track being laid at the former Wilko’s site in Blackpool as the time that we can all enjoy a tram ride to and from Blackpool North Railway Station draws ever closer! Tony Armitage captured the images of the first track being installed.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 3 Comments

In Pictures: Soccer Aid advert on M5000 3070

Posted on Wednesday 30 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

As we reported earlier this month there have been some new adverts applied to trams in Manchester – the first new designs seen in 2021. One of these adverts is being carried on 3070 which is now advertising the Soccer Aid charity football match which is due to take place at the Etihad Stadium on 4th September. This is 3070’s very first advertising livery. Chris Platt provides us with this image.

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More funding for Scottish light rail systems

Posted on Wednesday 30 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

The Scottish Government has confirmed that they will continue to support Edinburgh Trams and Glasgow Subway until the end of September 2021 following the announcement of a further £5.6 million of emergency funding. This brings the total committed to these systems to over £34 million since the start of the pandemic.

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Lockdown Walks: Stagecoach Supertram 122

Posted on Wednesday 30 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Its time for another “Lockdown Walk” and this time we are featuring the Stagecoach Supertram system.

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Another Metrolink M5000 arrives

Posted on Tuesday 29 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

The semi-regular deliveries of new trams for Manchester Metrolink is continuing with Saturday 26th June seeing 3127 arriving from Germany.

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In Pictures: More progress on tracklaying in Edinburgh

Posted on Tuesday 29 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Despite the fact that the official programme has shown that the Trams to Newhaven project is slightly behind schedule – although is still said to still be on target for completion by spring 2023 – our regular pictorial updates have shown that good progress is being made on the installation of tracks at various points along the line. In this latest update we take a look at tracklaying on Constitution Street. John Hampton with the picture.

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Birmingham Eastside extension work on Digbeth High Street to get underway from 6th July

Posted on Tuesday 29 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

The Midland Metro Alliance have confirmed that they will be starting preliminary construction work on the Birmingham Eastside extension on Digbeth High Street from 6th July. This work will help to revive Birmingham’s creative quarter with a fresh look along with sustainable transport links.

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Lockdown Walks: Manchester Metrolink 3104

Posted on Tuesday 29 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

We go out for a sunny “Lockdown Walk” today in Manchester.

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New timetable to be introduced on Metrolink from 5th July

Posted on Monday 28 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Monday 5th July will see a new timetable being introduced on Manchester Metrolink which is described as a step towards a pre-pandemic timetable, although it still isn’t quite where we were in March 2020. The blanket 10 minute frequency at peak times we’ve seen on all lines since the middle of last year will be replaced by a 12 minute frequency all day, every day but in addition the intermediate services on some of the lines will resume.

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In Pictures: Track gets ready to be laid at Wilko’s

Posted on Monday 28 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Last time we took a look at construction progress at the former Wilko’s site in Blackpool, which will become the UK’s newest tram terminus (when it opens in 2022), we saw the first signs of the concrete track base being installed and that work has been continuing in the days since that article as we see in this latest update. And not only has the concrete base seen progress but there is the first sign of track be readied for installation too!

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Whatever Happened To? Crich Tramathon 2005 – Liverpool 869

Posted on Monday 28 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

We return to looking at the trams which ran during the 2005 Tramathon at Crich and where they are now in “Whatever Happened To?”. This time out we are featuring Liverpool 869.

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Lockdown Walks: Stagecoach Supertram 399 203

Posted on Monday 28 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

We have another five days of bonus “Lockdown Walks” for you this week and in this edition we are back to the Stagecoach Supertram route out to Meadowhall.

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Trams in Video: Prague – Stejskalova “Californien” crossings

Posted on Sunday 27 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Its time to head to Prague once more for today’s “Trams in Video”. This time out we are at Stejskalova where we see a temporary crossover in action to allow normal services to run during some bridge replacement work. The temporary crossover installed and seen in this footage is known as a “Californien” crossing in Prague or “Kletterwichen” (climbing turnout) – something which could prove useful in the UK but has yet to be used during trackworks on any of our modern tram systems.

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More overhead line problems on West Midlands Metro

Posted on Sunday 27 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

This article has been updated since original publication.

Sometimes in an uncertain world its nice to have some things which remain constant, although we think in this case the fact that there has been another “wires down” incident on the West Midlands Metro doesn’t quite fit into that category. Yes, that’s right the West Midlands Metro is again running a revised service after an overhead line fault was discovered at the start of service on Saturday 26th June.

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Lockdown Walks: Manchester Metrolink 3070

Posted on Sunday 27 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Off to Manchester we go again for this edition of “Lockdown Walks”.

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NET memorabilia donated to Crich Tramway Village

Posted on Sunday 27 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

For obvious reasons a lot of the collection at the Crich Tramway Village relates to first generation tramways but to help fill a gap in the collection Nottingham Express Transit have recently donated signage with a view to a new display on the history of trams in Nottingham being created at the museum.

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Manx Electric Railway and Snaefell Mountain Railway announce summer operating dates

Posted on Saturday 26 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Whilst the Manx Electric Railway and Snaefell Mountain Railway have been running since May we had only known operating dates up until July but that has now changed with confirmation of the plans up until mid-September being recently released. This will see services running five days a week and also includes an evening service on the MER with a nice round-trip available from Derby Castle to Ramsey at 2055 (arriving back in Douglas at 2340).

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