Picture in Time: Blackpool Boats 605 & 600

Posted on Monday 27 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

What better sight is there than a pair of Blackpool Boats on the Prom? Well, that’s exactly what we take a look at today for this edition of “Picture in Time” as we again head back to 1975.

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Trams in Video: Southend Pier Railway

Posted on Sunday 26 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

In this edition of “Trams in Video” we are off to the seaside and a visit to the Southend Pier Railway in October 2019. Whilst plans are now in hand to replace the trains in use on the railway we take a look at the two current diesel trains which have been running on the line since 1986.

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TfL warn of cash shortage as workers start to be furloughed

Posted on Sunday 26 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

Transport for London have confirmed that they are to place 7,000 staff – whose work has been reduced or paused as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic – on furlough from Monday 27th April. This news comes after Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, warned that without government support services across the TfL network may have to be reduced further due to financial constraints which could have seen no further cash available to pay staff from the end of this month.

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Whatever Happened To? Blackpool Boat 600

Posted on Sunday 26 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

The next tram we take a look at that ran over the final weekend of the traditional Blackpool Tramway in November 2011 is Boat 600, which was the only one of the Open Boat Cars to run during the weekend.

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What’s New on British Trams Online?

Posted on Sunday 26 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

Back into the archives for another double-helping of photos this week:

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Doubts raised about viability of Trams to Newhaven project

Posted on Saturday 25 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

It’s a story which was always going to break at some point during the Coronavirus pandemic – doubts about whether the Trams to Newhaven project in Edinburgh will still be viable after all the financial implications of the restrictions are taken into consideration. The Edinburgh Evening News of 25th April 2020 ran with the lead story “Tram to Leith in doubt” with a two page article inside the paper going into more detail and based on comments from the opposition Scottish Conservation Councillors.

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Around the World in Trams: Vienna 4837

Posted on Saturday 25 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

Another trip to Austria today as we take a look at another of the trams in the Vienna fleet.

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Lockdown Walks: West Midlands Metro 31

Posted on Saturday 25 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

In this next edition of “Lockdown Walks” we are in the West Midlands for a view of a tram in operation during the reduced timetable.

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Government confirm support for light rail

Posted on Friday 24 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

One of the themes which has been emerging in recent weeks during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has been the financial strain it has been putting on various light rail systems with the Tyne and Wear Metro the first to express their concern at the start of the month. Now, the Department for Transport have confirmed that they are in discussions with local authorities to provide support although at this stage that is as far as the announcement has gone.

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Trams &: Gateshead 5 & Barnsley bus 5

Posted on Friday 24 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

In this edition of “Trams &” we feature a tram and a bus at Crich, both of which are now part of the collection but we actually see them together before this happened as we head back to 2007.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool 166

Posted on Friday 24 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

Another dip into the archives of trams at Crich this week and its another Blackpool tram featuring – Toastrack 166.

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More timetable adjustments on West Midlands Metro

Posted on Thursday 23 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

As the changes in travelling habits of the public continue as a result of the Coronavirus and the restrictions put in place by government, the West Midlands Metro have announced that they will be making further adjustments to the service operated from Monday 27th April.

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So Nearly, Not Quite! Blackpool Balloon 703

Posted on Thursday 23 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

Today we take another look at a photo which despite our best efforts didn’t quite turn out as we had hoped! The intended subject this time is Blackpool Balloon 703.

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Still Standing! Darwen tram shelters

Posted on Thursday 23 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

We have already seen the steam tram turning triangle in Darwen in this series but that is not the only tramway survivor in the town as there are also some old tramway shelters which are still standing.

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Hythe Pier Railway suspended

Posted on Wednesday 22 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

Whilst we were reporting at the height of service amendments and closures both of modern operating tramways and heritage lines one line which wasn’t mentioned was the Hythe Pier Railway – the world’s oldest continuously operating electric pier train. The reason for that it was still running at the time but following the suspension of the Ferry it connects with it has now ceased operation for the foreseeable future.

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Whatever Happened To? Blackpool Standard 147

Posted on Wednesday 22 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

Over the final weekend of the traditional Blackpool Tramway on 5th and 6th November 2011 29 different trams (or 32 if you take the trailers of the Twin Cars and Western Train to be separate trams) operated in service, either public or special enthusiast tours. In this series we will be taking a look at “Whatever Happened To” each of these trams, and although the answer to most is that they stayed in Blackpool and are still in service there is actually a variety of different paths the trams have followed in the over eight years that have followed. For the record 16 are currently operational in Blackpool, one is operational elsewhere, one has been scrapped and they can be found in five different locations. We will take a look at each tram in numerical order starting off with Standard 147.

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Picture in Time: South Yorkshire Supertram 06

Posted on Wednesday 22 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

Our next batch of modern tram archive images will be coming from Sheffield and we start off back in 1994 with an image of one of the trams in action.

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Mayor issues warning over Metrolink without government bail-out

Posted on Tuesday 21 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, has issued a stark warning that without immediate government support Manchester Metrolink will have to be completely suspended. Mr Burnham made the warning during a joint online briefing with his counterpart in Liverpool, Steve Rotherham, and called upon the government to provide a similar bail-out to that offered to rail and bus operators in the country.

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Lockdown Walks: Edinburgh Trams 270

Posted on Tuesday 21 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

As part of the restrictions imposed in the UK as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic you can go out for a solitary walk each day and whilst for many of us that doesn’t take us near any trams for a lucky few they do still see trams and in this new pictorial series (which will hopefully be a short-lived one!) we take a look at some of the trams they have come across during their Lockdown Walk. We start off in Edinburgh.

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Around the World in Trams: Vienna 21

Posted on Tuesday 21 April 2020 by Gareth Prior

We head back to Vienna for our latest foray into looking at trams from outside the British Isles.

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