What’s New on British Trams Online? 10th April 2021

Posted on Saturday 10 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

This week we have a double helping of photos as we look into the Blackpool archives and go more up-to-date on Manchester Metrolink:

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Around the World in Trams: Freiburg 285

Posted on Saturday 10 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

“Around the World in Trams” is off to Freiburg in Germany again for this latest instalment.

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Lockdown Walks: Edinburgh Trams 275

Posted on Saturday 10 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

Today’s “Lockdown Walk” is out in Edinburgh City Centre again as we take a look at the current very end of the line.

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In Pictures: Demolition continues at Tyne and Wear Metro depot

Posted on Friday 9 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

The project to demolish the existing Tyne and Wear Metro depot at Gosforth is continuing with the scheme very much in the early stages of the demolition phase. The complete project is due to take around two and a half years to complete and by the end the depot will be a state of the art facility to house and maintain the fleet of new Stadler built trains which are all due to be in service by 2024. In the meantime a temporary depot has been opened at Howdon to allow some trains to be stabled there each night with a more limited capacity available at Gosforth.

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Metrolink expansion has seen major benefits for local communities – new report

Posted on Friday 9 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

A new report – conducted using in-house Transport for Greater Manchester resources along with external specialists – has said that the major expansion of the Metrolink network has helped to improve residents access to employment, education and healthcare as well as contributing to a reduction in car journeys and the associated improved air quality this brings.

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Picture in Time: Seaton 7

Posted on Friday 9 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

“Picture In Time” is again looking back at the Seaton Tramway of day’s gone by today.

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Work on next West Midlands Metro extension to get underway later this spring

Posted on Thursday 8 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

The expansion of the West Midlands Metro sees no signs of abating with the news that the main construction works on the Birmingham Eastside extensions is set to get underway later this spring. The first works will see a new junction constructed at Lower Bull Street and Corporation Street with the summer having to see the current line through the city centre temporarily closed to allow the two lines to be connected.

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New timetables for Supertram from 12th April

Posted on Thursday 8 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

With Monday 12th April being the next stage in the government’s roadmap to easing restrictions, Stagecoach Supertram have announced that they will introducing new timetables from that date which for the Purple and Yellow routes will see the return of the full timetable.

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Stop by Stop Blackpool Tramway: North Pier

Posted on Thursday 8 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

We come to the end of our first section of a journey north on the Blackpool Tramway today as “Stop by Stop” reaches North Pier.

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Crich receive £204,000 from latest round of Culture Recovery Fund

Posted on Wednesday 7 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

The Crich Tramway Village – home of the National Tramway Museum – has confirmed that have been awarded £204,000 from the latest round of funding in the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. The money will allow staff to be brought back from furlough while also allowing for the expenditure on more items to help make the museum Covid secure when it reopens from Monday 12th April.

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More engineering works on Manchester Metrolink

Posted on Wednesday 7 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

There will be two sets of engineering works on the Manchester Metrolink network over the weekend of Saturday 10th and Sunday 11 April leading to the Altrincham line being suspended and Rochdale to East Didsbury services diverted away from the Second City Crossing.

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Still Standing! LCC Section Box

Posted on Wednesday 7 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

In this edition of “Still Standing!” we find a London County Council Tramways section box – nowhere near where any trams ran!

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Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours to resume from Saturday 29th May

Posted on Tuesday 6 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

The latest heritage tramway to confirm their reopening plans for the 2021 season is Blackpool’s Heritage Tram Tours with the first public heritage trams scheduled to run on Saturday 29th May and then on selected dates for the rest of the year. The familiar pattern seen in 2020 of pre-booked tours will be in operation again with dates announced for Promenade Tours, Coastal Tours and Illumination Tours.

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Track issue on Metrolink sees no trams to Eccles… again!

Posted on Tuesday 6 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

No sooner had the road resurfacing work in Eccles been completed and Metrolink services were due to resume on the line than a track issue was discovered leading to the suspension of services to…Eccles! It had been planned that after this road resurfacing works tram services would be able to resume from the start of service on Tuesday 6th April but this wasn’t possible after the track issue was found.

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Picture in Time: Tyne and Wear Metro BL1

Posted on Tuesday 6 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

“Picture in Time” is again heading to the Tyne and Wear Metro network today as we take a look at one of the fairly elusive battery locomotives.

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In Pictures: Supertram Park Square junction relay

Posted on Monday 5 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

There have been no Stagecoach Supertram services on the complete Stagecoach Supertram network after 2000 on Saturday 3rd April to allow for the vital Park Square junction to have its track replaced. All services on the Supertram network have to traverse this delta junction with lines going into the city centre (and onto Middlewood and Malin Bridge), onto Halfway and Herdings Park as well as to Meadowhall and Rotherham Parkgate. With it being well used it had become necessary for the track to be replaced and the Easter weekend proved to be the perfect opportunity for this work to take place. Stuart Cooke provides this photo of the start of the works.

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Volk’s Electric Railway to resume operation on 29th May

Posted on Monday 5 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

The latest heritage line to announce their reopening for 2021 is Brighton’s historic Volk’s Electric Railway with Saturday 29th May set as a return for services. With this date in mind preparation works have now started on the 1.25 mile line.

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Whatever Happened To? Crich Tramathon 2005 – Berlin 3006

Posted on Monday 5 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

Its time for the return of our then and now series “Whatever Happened To?” as we take a random event or class of trams and see any changes which have happened over the years. Our latest subject is the trams and works vehicles which ran at the Crich Tramway Village Tramathon in 2005 – but why have we chose this as a subject? It is a fairly random choice but this event saw a significant number of trams in service (in total 29 different vehicles either operated in service or ran on the mainline) and a fair number have since seen their operating status change. On a purely practical level we had a number of photos earmarked for the “15 Years Apart” series which weren’t needed in the end after 2020 went in a different direction to how we expected. So, sit back over the next 28 instalments as we see those trams which ran during the event both then and also as they are more recently. We start off with Berlin 3006.

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Lockdown Walks: Stagecoach Supertram 121

Posted on Monday 5 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

We head off for another “Lockdown Walks” in Sheffield featuring a tram running on the Blue route.

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Trams in Video: Blackpool Tram Day, Heaton Park Tramway

Posted on Sunday 4 April 2021 by Gareth Prior

Today “Trams in Video” is off to the Heaton Park Tramway where we see footage of the Blackpool Tram Day which was held on 21st November 2020. With Open Top Balloon 706 “Princess Alice” visiting for the event from Blackpool and Marton 31 at the start of its loan from Beamish (having been in Blackpool earlier in the year) they were joined by resident Blackpool 619 and Railgrinder 752 in one of the best events held at the Heaton Park Tramway.

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