Article updated 29/11/2025 with addition of additional photo
The Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Tramway Society have taken their pride and joy, tram no. 7, out again with it returning to Colwyn Bay for the Christmas lights switch-on in the North Wales coastal town.
Emergency engineering works on Manchester Metrolink will see no trams running between Piccadilly Gardens and Ashton-under-Lyne on Sunday 30th November 2025.
Its another edition of “Picture in Time” and in this edition we are off to the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley.
What’s hat they say about London buses? You wait ages for one to turn up and then two come! Well, it seems the same could be said of Glasgow trams as no sooner do we bring an update on the restoration of Glasgow 1245 at Summerlee then there is a major development at the East Anglia Transport Museum in work to bring Glasgow 488 back into use.
It was first reported following the release of Lord Hardie’s report into the first phase of Edinburgh Trams that the City of Edinburgh Council were considering legal action against the lawyers who had advised them during the project. And now reports are out there that they are seeking record damages – totaling up to £222 million.
It is the season for new fares to be introduced on tram networks it seems! Following on from the news that the cost of travelling on South Yorkshire Supertram will remain frozen or reduced, and that fares will see significant rises on the West Midlands Metro, comes news that Nottingham Express Transit will also see increases. The big difference on NET though is that the new fares will come into force as early as Monday 1st December 2025.
Sunday 23rd November saw the last round of matches in the Quilter Nations Series (formerly known as the Autumn Internationals) with Scotland finishing things off with a comfortable victory against Tonga (56-0). The match once again took place at Murrayfield Stadium and as we’ve come to expect over the past 11 years, Edinburgh Trams were on hand to help move the crowds to and from the match.
For the second time since Illumination Tours started running again in October 2025, Blackpool Transport have announced that there will be further tours with the Frigate on Fridays and Saturdays throughout December and early January (except for 26th and 27th December).
The cost of travelling on the West Midlands Metro is set to increase from the new year following the approval of plans by the West Midlands Combined Authority. Some tickets will increase by 10% with Midland Metro Limited (who operate the network) saying the rise is needed to ensure the financial sustainability of the network.
Its been a while since we last featured an update on the comprehensive restoration of Glasgow Coronation Car 1245 (in fact its almost exactly a year ago!) so we remedy that in this pictorial article as we take a look at recent progress as the project starts to come towards an end.
You may recall earlier this year we ran a news story on the planned release of a new tram book by well-known tram enthusiast, Chris Thornburn. Based on his life as a Leeds tram conductor, “On Top o’t’ Job” is about to go to print and pre-orders are now being accepted.
South Yorkshire Supertram have started a new outdoor and radio advertising campaign, as they seek to encourage local residents to try the tram as it’s a smart sustainable way to travel.
The start of West Midlands Metro services to Millennium Point can’t be too far away now with the start of testing and driver training on the first phase of the Birmingham Eastside extension now underway.
Passengers could be getting off at a new Metrolink stop by 2031 if plans by Manchester City Council go-ahead as planned. A stop at Sandhills is one of three new stops which was given the go-ahead earlier this year as part of major investment in transport in Greater Manchester.
Its another “Old and New” coming from the Blackpool Tramway and this time we are in the vicinity of Wilton Parade on North Promenade.
In this latest edition of “Out and About” we head off to Edinburgh for another look at one of the advert liveries on the network.
Unite the Union have confirmed that their members have voted in favour of strike action on Manchester Metrolink with the first strike set to take place between Friday 5th and Sunday 7th December 2025. The strike comes over concerns about driver’s fatigue with Unite claiming that KeolisAmeyMetrolink have ignored these concerns over a period of time.
With the advent of Metro Mayors covering large conurbations across the UK there has been a lot of talk of what they can do to improve transport, indeed in some cases these have been followed through on with plans for a major transit system linking Leeds and Bradford, as well as the numerous projects planned across Greater Manchester. And now the Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, is seeking the views of residents in the region to help improve transport.
£12.8 million has been invested in improving the South Yorkshire Supertram network this year, with Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard hailing the completion of the major works following the conclusion of rail replacement works at Infirmary Road.
Say what you like about adverts in Edinburgh (and we know there are lots of you who are not keen on them!) but companies obviously think it works as a medium to get their products out there to the public, considering how many returning advertisers there are. The latest to come back after a brief gap is The Famous Grouse who now have a full wrap on 276 and Walkers Shortbread on 275.
