A gift for everyone as Santa (and Mrs Claus) visit Blackpool

Posted on Friday 6 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

The next three weekends in Blackpool will see very special visitors as Santa and Mrs Claus take time out of their busy pre-Christmas schedule to spend time on the Western Train at North Pier/Tower. Not only will they be out and about but there will also be a heritage tram service between Pleasure Beach and Bispham between 0940 and 1640.

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Llandudno & Colwyn Bay 7 back out this weekend

Posted on Friday 6 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway 7 is set to make another appearance in public this weekend when it will take part in the Llandudno Father Christmas Parade. The parade is due to start at 1600 but no. 7 should be in the town from the early afternoon when you will be able to look inside the tram and tram related souvenirs will also be on sale.

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In Pictures: Ipswich tram depot today (well, June anyway!)

Posted on Friday 6 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Across the UK there are a number of first generation tram depots still standing albeit for uses other than that they were originally built for. One such depot is that which stands on Constantine Road in Ipswich which after the closure of the tram system in that town in 1926 continued to be used for transport purposes and today remains in use as a bus depot. Bryan Grint made a recent trip and shares the following images with us.

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They Ran in 2019: Blackpool Trawler

Posted on Friday 6 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

One of the three operational feature cars in Blackpool is the focus of this edition of “They Ran in 2019” – the illuminated Trawler.

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15 Years Apart: Blackpool Balloon 718

Posted on Friday 6 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Today we head back to Blackpool to take a look at a tram “15 Years Apart”. This tram the feature of this article is Balloon 718.

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In Pictures: Adverts return to Tyne and Wear Metro

Posted on Thursday 5 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Ever since the Tyne and Wear Metro vehicles went through their last refurbishment in the first part of this decade the fleet has been in uniform fleet livery (more or less, an advert livery does still exist on one of the unrefurbished operational Metrocars). Until now that is! 4034 has received an advertising livery for Artisanal Vodka and was first noted in this look in early December.

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In Pictures: Back to fleet livery for 262

Posted on Thursday 5 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Another livery change in Edinburgh to report with another advertising contract coming to an end seeing a tram return to fleet livery (at least for now anyway). The tram this time is 262 which has lost its advertising vinyls for Spotify, this advert had been applied back in late August.

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Trams in Video: West Midlands Metro – September 2019

Posted on Thursday 5 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

With the Birmingham Westside extension set to open very soon in today’s “Trams in Video” we feature footage from the West Midlands Metro during September 2019. At this time the system was in transition with some trams still in the old Magenta based livery although many had received the all new blue livery.

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They Ran in 2019: Blackpool Standard 40

Posted on Thursday 5 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

The tram which “ran in 2019” today is a very regularly used tram at Crich – Blackpool Standard 40.

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15 Years Apart: London County Council 1

Posted on Thursday 5 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

In today’s edition of “15 Years Apart” we visit Crich and view a tram which, although not yet operational, is in the middle of a restoration and is looking like a completely different tram!

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In Pictures: More battery trams getting ready ahead of extension opening – but still no official opening date

Posted on Wednesday 4 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Preparations for the opening of Birmingham Westside extension on the West Midlands Metro are continuing with shadow running having been taken place all week whilst 24 has entered service with batteries, and there are another two Urbos3 trams being made ready with their batteries too! Despite all this activity there is still no official word from Transport for West Midlands or West Midlands Metro as to when the extension will open to the public.

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NET comes top of new customer service study

Posted on Wednesday 4 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit are celebrating after coming off on top in a major study of customer service in the UK. The report from the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) has named NET as the top public transport company beating off competition such as Virgin Atlantic, Eurotunnel and P&O Ferries.

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They Ran in 2019: Sheffield 264

Posted on Wednesday 4 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

There is no doubt that the hardest working heritage trams in the country are those which ply their trade at Beamish with year round operation running round and round the museum circuit. One of those which sees uses all year round, whatever the weather!, is Sheffield 264.

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15 Years Apart: Blackpool Brush 621

Posted on Wednesday 4 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

It is back to Blackpool for another look at a tram “15 Years Apart” with Brush Railcoach 621 the focus of today’s instalment.

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Help Crich by sponsoring a sleeper!

Posted on Tuesday 3 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

As we’ve reported on these pages over the past few weeks the big maintenance project at Crich this winter is the relaying of the track between Victoria Park and where the double track goes single on the way to Wakebridge and to help fund this work a new “Sponsor a Sleeper” campaign has been launched.

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Trams in Video: Crich 60 – September 2019

Posted on Tuesday 3 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

The majority of our coverage on these pages is either written or photographic but in this new series running during December we will be viewing moving images as, courtesy of Bob Hodges Transport DVDs, we take a look at some video of trams from across the country. In this first edition we are off to the Crich Tramway Village for footage coming from September 2019’s Crich 60 event.

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They Ran in 2019: Blackpool Boat 600

Posted on Tuesday 3 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Its our first look at some of the trams which ran in Blackpool during the past calendar year this afternoon and what better tram to start with than Boat 600.

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15 Years Apart: Sheffield 74

Posted on Tuesday 3 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

When we launched this series we menti0ned that some of the instalments would be very much “what difference!” and today’s edition very much falls into that category! The tram featured today is Sheffield 74 at Crich.

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New appointments at Nexus

Posted on Monday 2 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Its been a busy time for appointments at Nexus with both a new Chief Operating Officer and a Head of Maintenance Delivery announced in their new roles. Martin Kearney, most recently Chief Officer for Train and Ferry Operations at Transdev Australia, has been named as the new Chief Operating Officer at Nexus with Steven Shiel, currently Head of Rail and Civil Engineering at Newcastle College Rail Academy, taking on the role of Head of Maintenance Delivery.

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A million contactless journeys made on Metrolink

Posted on Monday 2 December 2019 by Gareth Prior

Over one million journeys have been made on Manchester Metrolink using contactless payment, just four months after it became possible. The landmark was reached over the weekend of 16th/17th November, just four months and a day since it was launched on 15th July.

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