In Pictures: Night-time running at East Anglia Transport Museum

Posted on Sunday 13 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

In all the excitement of the event at Crich, Blackpool and Birkenhead we have neglected to mention the Trolleybus Weekend at the East Anglia Transport Museum which took place over the weekend of 21st and 22nd September. Whilst primarily an opportunity for the museum to get out all of their operating trolleybuses the other forms of transport at the museum also get a look in – of course, including the trams.

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Consistency continues on Tyne and Wear Metro

Posted on Sunday 13 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

85% seems the percentage for the Tyne and Wear Metro as for the third four week period in a row that is the number of trains arriving on time across the network – which also happens to be the same number as this same period last year!

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 13 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

Off to the Wirral for this weeks photographic offerings:

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2021 for trams to Blackpool North?

Posted on Saturday 12 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

More progress on the project to extend the Blackpool Tramway up Talbot Road to a site just adjacent to Blackpool North Railway Station appears to be on the horizon with news that it could be 2021 for service to start, according to latest documents from Blackpool Council.

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Picture in Time: Docklands Light Railway 45+81

Posted on Saturday 12 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

This week’s modern light rail image from the archives heads back to 16th March 2005 again for another look at the Docklands Light Railway.

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Expansion announced for Metro driver training programme

Posted on Saturday 12 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

The Tyne and Wear Metro will now be able to train double the number of new drivers following the expansion of their training programme it has been announced by Nexus. This is the biggest expansion of training in Metro’s history and comes as a response to a high turnover of staff in recent years.

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In Pictures: Work continues on Birmingham Westside extension

Posted on Friday 11 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

With further testing due to take place during October – and a service set to commence by the end of this year – how far advanced is work on the Birmingham Westside extension first phase as far as Centenary Square? Martin Miller took a trip on 4th October which shows work still continuing on completing this short extension.

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In Pictures: Refurbishment work continues on Incentros

Posted on Friday 11 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

We recently took a look at the first three Incentro trams in Nottingham which have had their refurbishment completed allowing them to return to service but behind the scenes at Wilkinson Street Depot it remains busy with further trams under attention receiving the extensive work to improve their reliability. In two separate visits we see trams under attention courtesy of Geoff Pickles and Nigel Pennick.

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Crich builds up to the end of the season

Posted on Friday 11 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

It’s hard to believe but we are in the final month of the 2019 season at Crich (just where does the time go!) with the final events of the year being prepared for. As well as the usual – and increasingly popular – Starlight Event for the final week of the season, the museum will also be taking part in The Big Draw Festival.

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Posted in Event Previews, National Tramway Museum | 2 Comments

Edinburgh Trams extension work to start in earnest in November

Posted on Thursday 10 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

Since approval was given to the Edinburgh Trams extension project to Newhaven earlier this year there has plenty going on in preparation for the full construction programme to begin and it has now been confirmed that works will begin on Constitution Street in mid-November. At the same it has been confirmed that the project budget of £207.3m remains achievable.

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In Pictures: Sheffield College adverts moved to 102

Posted on Thursday 10 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

A few weeks ago we reported that the adverts for Sheffield College which had been carried on Supertram 110 were removed leaving this tram back in full fleet livery but now there is another tram carrying advertising for Sheffield College – 102. As with 110 this is not a full advertising livery by any means with just a few window vinyls and above window adverts included. Once again the main part of this advertising campaign is to let people know when open days are being held at the college.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool & Fleetwood 2 and Sheffield 264

Posted on Thursday 10 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

We take our final trip to the 1973 Transport Extravaganza at Crich for this latest edition of Picture in Time with a shot of two trams no longer part of the operational fleet.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum, Picture in Time | 2 Comments

In Pictures: Wirral Bus and Tram Show draws the crowds

Posted on Wednesday 9 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

The fickle British weather really can make and break any transport event – if the sun shines lots of people will make the trip but if the rain falls then numbers are down. Over the past few weeks we have seen sun and rain at tram events with the latest of the quickly occurring trio of events – the Wirral Bus and Tram Show taking place on Sunday 6th October fortunately seeing plenty of sun – and some less than sunny weather! – leading to a large number of visitors – and plenty on offer with six different trams in service at times during the day as well as lots of buses, classic cars and so much more!

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Posted in Birkenhead Heritage Tramway, Event Reviews | 1 Comment

Power fault traps trains in depot

Posted on Wednesday 9 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

Wednesday 9th October was a day which didn’t start out too well on the Tyne and Wear Metro with a power fault at South Gosforth Depot meaning it wasn’t possible to get enough trains out quicker enough to provide the full peak time service. Whilst it was possible for trains to leave they had to go by an alternative route which reduced the numbers which could leave in order for the usual service to operate.

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In Pictures: An out of season weekday at Crich

Posted on Wednesday 9 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

Now that the excitement of Crich 60 is out the way and we build up towards the end of season and the Starlight Event it is business as usual at the Crich Tramway Village with most days seeing either a two or three tram service, plenty for the number of visitors making the trip – mainly retired people, grandparents and young parents entertaining small children when bigger siblings may be at school. One such time was Friday 4th October when a two tram service was running featuring Leeds 345 and Blackpool 630. David Maxwell made the trip.

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21 more Urbos trams for West Midlands Metro

Posted on Tuesday 8 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

Transport for West Midlands have confirmed that they have signed a contract with CAF to supply an additional 21 Urbos trams for the West Midlands Metro, with the option for a further 29 trams dependent on progress on expanding the system. The £83.5 million deal was signed after a tendering process with Alstom, Bombardier and Skoda also being considered.

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More peak time trains for Tyne and Wear Metro

Posted on Tuesday 8 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

A new timetable is to be introduced on the Tyne and Wear Metro from Sunday 13th October with additional peak time trains to run as a result of passenger feedback. The new timetable will see a reduction in gaps between early morning services from South Shields and afternoon services through North Tyneside.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Centenary 648

Posted on Tuesday 8 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

Staying in 1990 for this week’s Picture in Time image from Blackpool we feature another one person operated tram but this time of the second generation of vehicles – Centenary 648.

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Docklands Light Railway scoops Operator of the Year at the Light Rail Awards

Posted on Monday 7 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

The annual Global Light Rail Awards took place in London on 2nd October 2019 with the Docklands Light Railway – or more specifically Keolis Amey Docklands – being named as Operator of the Year with other award winners coming from diverse locations such as Nottingham Express Transit, South Yorkshire Supertram, West Midlands Metro and Newcastle, New South Wales. As always it seems many of the award winners are a little shy about their wins but at least this year a full list of winners has been posted online so we do know exactly who walked away with the awards.

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New tickets introduced on Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Monday 7 October 2019 by Gareth Prior

Two new mobile tickets are to be introduced on Edinburgh Trams – cutting the cost of travel for families to the Airport whilst also seeing a three, four or five day unlimited ticket across the network. These new tickets will be available exclusively online with passengers just needing to show their ticket on their mobile device.

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