Picture in Time: South Yorkshire Supertram

Posted on Saturday 23 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

This week we move north from Croydon to Sheffield to start a series of archive images from the Supertram network, starting off with an image during testing.

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In Pictures: Around and about at Beamish

Posted on Saturday 23 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

With it now being less than a month until the Great North Steam Fair kicks off at Beamish it is very much the lull before the storm – especially with it being outside of school holidays as well – with most days seeing up to a couple of trams in service.

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Runaway Snaefell car was travelling and nearly four times line speed

Posted on Saturday 23 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

Ever since Snaefell Mountain Railway 2 overshot Bungalow Station in August 2017 with passengers on board there has been a lot of speculation as to what happened, not helped by the apparent secrecy of the Health and Safety at Work Inspectorate report into just what happened. Now Isle of Man Newspapers have used a Freedom of Information Act request to find out just what happened and it does make for some alarming reading with confirmation that 2 travelled for 1.4km and reached a top speed of 44mph as the crew attempted to bring it to a standstill.

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In Pictures: Edinburgh 276 gets new advert

Posted on Friday 22 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

Christmas is now officially over in Edinburgh following the removal of the Christmas and Hogmanay advert on 276 – only three and half months late! 276 has now become the latest tram to advertise the Parabola development at Edinburgh Park following in the footsteps of 254, 264, 268 and 271.

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Two more battery trams for West Midlands Metro

Posted on Friday 22 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

The next two West Midlands Metro trams to have batteries installed are seeing excellent progress in the fitting of the equipment although at the time of writing neither have been fully completed. The two trams are 23 and 19, which will bring it up to 10 of 21 being able to operate without overhead power.

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M5000 3006 reaches one million not out!

Posted on Friday 22 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

How hard working the trams on Manchester Metrolink are has been brought into the public eye with the news that 3006 has become the very first of the M5000 trams to reach one million kilometres. The tram first carried passengers in February 2010 and just nine years later it has reached the landmark which was achieved as it arrived at Altrincham during the afternoon on Wednesday 20th March.

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In Pictures: Opening Day of 2019 season at Crich

Posted on Thursday 21 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

As we reported at the weekend another season of operation is now underway at the Crich Tramway Village with daily opening starting on Saturday 16th March. The first day saw Leeds pair 345 and 399, Glasgow 22 and Berlin 223 006-4 all in service whilst there were some visiting Aston Martin cars on site. Hazel Quarmby was also there are provides us with the following photos.

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Tramlink strike to go-ahead after talks break-down

Posted on Thursday 21 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

London Tramlink services are likely to be severely disrupted on Thursday 28th March after talks at ACAS between ASLEF and FirstTram Operations ended without agreement. A recent ballot of ASLEF members on Tramlink found an overwhelming majority in favour of taking strike action over the latest pay deal.

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Picture in Time: Great Orme Tramway 5

Posted on Thursday 21 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

Starting off a short series of images from Llandudno’s Great Orme Tramway today as we continue Picture in Time.

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In Pictures: Tree cutting on West Midlands Metro

Posted on Wednesday 20 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

Over the years that West Midlands Metro has been operating the trees alongside the tramway have become more and more overgrown, adding to problems with leaf fall on the tracks as well as potentially causing overhead problems with overhanging branches. But now a programme of works is underway to cut the trees back which as well as improving the potential service in the future will also open up plenty of new photographic opportunities.

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Tram allocations announced for next Winter Gold

Posted on Wednesday 20 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

It may be Spring but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to fit in another Winter Gold operation in Blackpool over the weekend of 23rd and 24th March. The standard winter timetable will be in operation with six trams in service between Starr Gate and Fleetwood and once again a good variety of trams are set to make an appearance.

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Tyne and Wear Metro performance edges up

Posted on Wednesday 20 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

The latest four week period of performance on the Tyne and Wear Metro has seen a small increase although it is still at a disappointing level, especially for anyone who is trying to get around the region and relying on the Metro.

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New support package announced for businesses affected by Metro extension

Posted on Tuesday 19 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has agreed a support package for businesses affected by the construction of West Midlands Metro extensions. The initiative will be specifically targeted towards businesses who have frontages directly affected by construction.

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“Tram surfing” back in the news

Posted on Tuesday 19 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

It’s a story almost as old as trams have been about but “tram surfing” is once again in the news with several images appearing of youths “surfing” on the back of trams in Manchester leading to TfGM issuing a warning about the dangers of these activity. Meanwhile, other footage has appeared of youths riding along the roof of vehicles on the Docklands Light Railway.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 723

Posted on Tuesday 19 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

We stay in 1983 for this week’s archive image from Blackpool and this time we feature a couple of the iconic Balloon Cars.

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In Pictures: Prototype Metro cars in service

Posted on Monday 18 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

When the Tyne Wear Metro fleet went through refurbishment there were four which it was decided wouldn’t enjoy this work, the prototype pair 4001 and 4002 plus 4040 and 4083. These units can only work with each other and currently with 4040 out of service at South Gosforth Depot this has meant only one pair is seen in service. 4001 and 4083 – the latter of which is in an advert for Emirates – had been paired together for quite some time but recently the two prototypes have been running together on peak time extras as seen in the below photo from Trevor Hall.

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In Pictures: Beamish visitor’s at rest

Posted on Monday 18 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

As we have may have mentioned once or twice there are currently two visiting trams at Beamish – Blackpool & Fleetwood Box 40 and Manchester 765. With both now having run in passenger service ahead of their full service introduction at the Great North Steam Fair on Friday 15th March they were both at rest in the depot awaiting their next duties as Trevor Hall took a trip to the museum.

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Plans announced for trams in Leicester – if the Conservatives win local elections

Posted on Monday 18 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

It’s a type of story that springs up every now and then across the UK – proposals to build a new tramway to help traffic congestion. This time around it’s Leicester which is considering the proposals but it isn’t the ruling Labour Party who are involved but rather the Conservatives – a party who currently have the grand total of one councillor!

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Around the World in Trams: Palermo 02

Posted on Sunday 17 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

We move on this week to Italy as we visit the system on the island of Sicily operating around Palermo. Only just over three years old the network is the second to run in the city following on from the first which closed in 1947.

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Season’s start on the MER and at Crich

Posted on Sunday 17 March 2019 by Gareth Prior

A sure sign that Spring has almost sprung is the return of more tramways for another season of operation – Saturday 16th March saw two more lines start their 2019 season, those at Crich and on the Manx Electric Railway.

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