Complete West Midlands Metro network suspended after trams withdrawn for inspections

Posted on Friday 11 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

There have been no trams running at all on the entire West Midlands Metro line between Library and Wolverhampton St George’s from the start of service on Friday 11th June after the complete fleet of Urbos3 trams were withdrawn from service for inspection. This came after manufacturer CAF identified a fault with the trams during routine maintenance which now needs to be thoroughly checked before the trams can start to be released for passenger service again.

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Family Day Tripper ticket launched on Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Friday 11 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

With tourists expected to start returning to Edinburgh City Centre once more this summer, Edinburgh Trams are seeking to make tram travel even more affordable with the launch of a new Family Day Tripper ticket which is available exclusively from https://www.edinburghticket.com.

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More disruption on Metrolink

Posted on Friday 11 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

After the major power failure on Metrolink on Wednesday 9th June, it hasn’t been completely plain sailing for the network since with both the Eccles line and now the Altrincham line seeing disruption.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Brush 625

Posted on Friday 11 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

In another edition of “Picture in Time” this time we feature a Blackpool tram which since being withdrawn by Blackpool Transport has gone through a number of owners but in 2021 has joined the Fylde Transport Trust Fleet.

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Andy Burnham puts transport at centre of his new term as Greater Manchester Mayor

Posted on Thursday 10 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

In the recent Mayoral election for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham was elected for another term and in the immediate aftermath has vowed to put transport at the centre of his plans. While the headline of this is to accelerate the plans for bus franchising, Metrolink isn’t left out with Mr Burnham asking TfGM to bring forward plans to bring the tram to Middleton.

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Vote for the Seaton Tramway in the Muddy Stilettos Awards!

Posted on Thursday 10 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

The Seaton Tramway – no stranger to winning awards recently! – are up for another award and need your help to secure enough votes. They have been nominated in the Best Family Attraction in the 2021 Muddy Stilettos Awards for Devon with voting open until 1700 on Tuesday 22nd June 2021.

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Stop by Stop Nottingham Express Transit: Toton Lane line – Chilwell Road

Posted on Thursday 10 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Its time again for an edition of our series which looks at the tramstops of Nottingham Express Transit’s line to Toton Lane. This time out we feature Chilwell Road.

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In Pictures: New advert for Supertram 112

Posted on Wednesday 9 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Stagecoach Supertram 112 has received its first ever non-standard livery after it was unveiled in a special advertising livery extoling the green credentials of the tram in an effort to encourage more people to travel on the network. The tram first ran with its new look on Wednesday 9th June when it operated on the Yellow route between Meadowhall and Middlewood.

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More overhead line damage at St Paul’s causes West Midlands Metro delays

Posted on Wednesday 9 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

In what seems to be a recurring story services on the West Midlands Metro have been suspended through St Paul’s again after damage to the overhead wires. This is by no means the first time that there has been overhead line damage in this area (including some earlier this year) but despite previous repairs it would seem there remain issues here.

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Fire leads to Metrolink delays

Posted on Wednesday 9 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Services across the Manchester Metrolink suffered major delays on Wednesday 9th June after a fire in an underground Metrolink chamber led to a loss of power in the city centre. Services first came to a stand at approximately 0920 following the fire with a full resumption across the network possible from around 1230 albeit with delays (some lines were able to resume earlier with some being terminated short of their usual destination).

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Still Standing! Edinburgh Cable Tramways track

Posted on Wednesday 9 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Another trip to Edinburgh in this edition of “Still Standing!” and it’s the Cable Tramway which has again attracted our interest as we find a small section of surviving track.

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In Pictures: Graz 225 scrapping continues

Posted on Tuesday 8 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

As we reported a few weeks ago, the Brighton Tram 53 Society have recently taken the difficult decision to scrap Graz 225 after they were asked to remove the tram by their landlord and could find no takers for the tram. Alongside the continued restoration of Brighton 53 – which is making good and steady progress – they are dismantling the Graz car with the tram now looking very sorry for itself!

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In Pictures: A look at the old Wilko’s site in Blackpool

Posted on Tuesday 8 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

While work on the installation of overhead along the route of the tramway extension in Blackpool along Talbot Road may have stalled after a week of span wires being put up that doesn’t mean that there is no work taking place as there remains activity up at the former Wilko’s store where the tram terminus will eventually be constructed. Continue reading →

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Picture in Time: Stagecoach Supertram 103

Posted on Tuesday 8 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

We remain in South Yorkshire for this latest edition of “Picture in Time” with a view taken on Supertram during 2003.

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In Pictures: Heaton Park Tramway returns!

Posted on Monday 7 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Its been a great week for the Heaton Park Tramway as quickly following on from the news they have been Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service they are now back running again for the first time in 2021 – and the first normal operation since the pandemic began. On Saturday 5th June to mark the occasion Pete Waterman was on hand to officially open the tramway which will now be operating at weekends for the foreseeable future.

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Metro performance down

Posted on Monday 7 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Another four week performance period for the Tyne and Wear Metro and a fall in the number of trains running on time both in comparison with the previous period as well as the same time last year.

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Whatever Happened To? Crich Tramathon 2005 – Leeds 180

Posted on Monday 7 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

Continuing our run down of those trams which ran at the 2005 Tramathon at the Crich Tramway Village the alphabet has now reached the letter L and that means we feature the first of three Leeds cars which carried passengers – 180.

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They’ve Run in 2021

Posted on Monday 7 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

With more heritage tramways starting to run for the first time in 2021 its time for another update of the complete list of heritage trams which have run during the year across the British Isles. As usual this is what we believe to be the complete picture although if you are aware of any errors or omissions please let us know through the usual channels.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, East Anglia Transport Museum, Heaton Park Tramway, Manx Electric Railway, National Tramway Museum, Seaton Tramway, Snaefell Mountain Railway, Summerlee Museum Tramway, They Ran in 2021, Volk's Electric Railway | Comments Off on They’ve Run in 2021

Trams in Video: Crich Tramway Village May 2021

Posted on Sunday 6 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

As “Trams in Video” continues this evening we get up-to-date with things as we feature footage taken at the Crich Tramway Village during a couple of visits in May 2021. This includes footage of not only the trams in service but also of trams around the depots and Exhibition Hall including a little bit of shunting.

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In Pictures: A cold and damp day at Crich

Posted on Sunday 6 June 2021 by Gareth Prior

In this small pictorial article we take a look at what was out and about on Monday 3rd May at the Crich Tramway Village. This was just a normal day at Crich – or as normal as it comes at the moment! Photos from Keith Chadbourne.

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