Picture in Time: Manx Electric Railway – Derby Castle

Posted on Tuesday 21 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

The Isle of Man is the location for our archive photo as part of Picture in Time today as we find ourselves at Derby Castle, Douglas in 1993.

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Unsafe building halts Metrolink services in Rochdale

Posted on Tuesday 21 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink services are unable to travel through Rochdale Town Centre following the discovery of an unsafe building on Drake Street. Cracks were discovered in the building on Friday 17th March and the road was immediately closed to all traffic including trams. All trams on the Oldham and Rochdale line are being terminated at Rochdale Railway Station with a shuttle bus provided for onward travel into the town centre. However with Drake Street closed to all traffic this has also been diverted. Structural engineers will examine the building before a decision is made as to when trams can return to the full route.

Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 4 Comments

In Pictures: Midland Metro Brierley Hill extension

Posted on Saturday 18 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

One of the Midland Metro extension projects currently being progressed is that of a line from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill which would mainly use disused railway lines but would also serve Dudley Town Centre and Merry Hill. Although the extension is still at the stage of planning – with a business case currently being prepared – recently work has been undertaken on vegetation clearance on the disused railway line, partly so as to provide a clearer picture of how much work will be required to bring trams to the line. In this pictorial update Andy Walters provides images of the latest situation.

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In Pictures: Crich opens for 2017

Posted on Saturday 18 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

Services resumed at the Crich Tramway Village on Saturday 18th March for the start of another operating season which will see trams run every day until Sunday 5th November 2017. The standard three tram service was in operation with Chesterfield 7 the first tram out to carry out the pre-service check on the line and then Leeds 180 formed the first passenger journeys of the year. Metropolitan Electric Tramways 331 was also in service and Berlin 223 006-4 resumed its access tram duties as well. It is planned that at least a three tram service will be in operation each day until the end of the season with more running during some special events.

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Picture in Time: Nottingham Express Transit 201

Posted on Saturday 18 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

Into the East Midlands for this edition of Picture in Time as we take another look at Nottingham Express Transit with the first Incentro tram, 201, featured.

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Pioneer Brush Railcoach set to run again!

Posted on Friday 17 March 2017 by Andrew Waddington

2017 sees the 80th anniversary of Blackpool’s Brush Railcoach class, and to help mark this milestone anniversary it has been announced that pioneer car 621 is to be restored to service this year! The tram is currently stored in Rigby Road depot following its return from Beamish Museum, who kindly donated it to the Blackpool Heritage Trust at the end of last year, but it is set to undergo a transformation over the next few months.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 19 Comments

Midland Metro set to break 7 million passenger barrier

Posted on Friday 17 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

More people than ever are travelling on Midland Metro with the Birmingham City Centre extension seeing a major increase in passenger numbers according to the latest figures released. 6.6 million passenger journeys were recorded in 2016 and the latest projections are suggesting that the period between June 2016 and June 2017 will see the seven million passenger journey broken for the first time ever.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 1 Comment

JC Decaux to lose Edinburgh Trams advertising contract

Posted on Friday 17 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

After a two year contract which has seemingly failed to bring in any revenue JC Decaux are set to be replaced as the firm in charge of advertising on Edinburgh Trams. It had always been planned that advertising would be sold on the 27 strong tram fleet but even after JC Decaux set the ball rolling on LinkedIn last year no companies have been signed up and now the City of Edinburgh Council have lost patience with the contract about to be terminated.

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 5 Comments

Easter closure in Croydon Town Centre for Tramlink

Posted on Friday 17 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

London Tramlink services will be suspended between Reeves Corner and East Croydon for ten days over Easter to allow for track replacement works on Wellesley Road. No trams will run on the Croydon Town Centre loop from 8th April until 18th April whilst the trackworks take place with all other traffic southbound of Wellesley Road also being subject to diversions. During the closure period it is expected that a service will run from Wimbledon to Reeves Corner and from East Croydon to Beckenham Junction, Elmers End and New Addington.

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TfL and TOL admit liability over Sandilands derailment

Posted on Friday 17 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

Transport for London – through Tramtrack Croydon Limited – and Tram Operations Limited have admitted liability over the tragic derailment at Sandilands on 9th November 2016. This is in relation to civil claims which have been made as a result of the accident and will now mean that payments will be able to be made promptly. Anyone involved in the accident who requires additional help have been urged to directly contact Transport for London.

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Blackpool Standard 147 returns home

Posted on Thursday 16 March 2017 by Andrew Waddington

The year-long exchange of Blackpool trams Marton Box 31 and Standard 147 is now over, with the two trams now safely back at their usual respective homes of Beamish Museum and Blackpool respectively. After 31 had made the journey by road from Blackpool to Beamish on Monday 13th March, it was 147‘s turn for a road trip with the Standard car forming the return load to the Fylde with Calkeld’s Heavy Haualge again providing the motive transport.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Railcoach 679 & Coronation 304

Posted on Thursday 16 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

In today’s offering from the archives we head to Blackpool for a enthusiasts tour on a foggy 29th November 2008. The occasion was a farewell for Ex-Towing Railcoach 679 which had been acquired by the Lancastrian Transport Trust for restoration in original condition and it was joined on the day by Coronation 304.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool 159 & London Transport 1858

Posted on Tuesday 14 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

Today’s Picture in Time image could practically come from any of the past 40 years as it features two trams which have been the mainstays of the operational fleet at the East Anglia Transport Museum, namely Blackpool Standard 159 and London Transport 1858.

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In Pictures: Marton Thirty-Gone!

Posted on Monday 13 March 2017 by Andrew Waddington

The loan of Marton Box 31 back to Blackpool officially came to an end on Monday 13th March, when the tram left the seaside town on the back of a Calkeld’s low loader for its long road journey back to Beamish. The tram had stayed in the resort for just over one year and has proved immensely popular when used on the heritage service.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway, Blackpool Tramway | 1 Comment

In Pictures: Tram-Train project construction update

Posted on Sunday 12 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

The slow and steady progress on the infrastructure for the tram-train project between Sheffield and Rotherham is continuing as shown in this latest pictorial update from the camera of Glyn Hill.

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Posted in South Yorkshire Supertram | 7 Comments

Car collides with tram in Nottingham

Posted on Sunday 12 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit services suffered minor delays on Saturday 11th March after a car collided with a tram close to the High School stop on the line to Hucknall and Phoenix Park. Citadis 233 was the tram involved in the collision with a silver Mercedes with both vehicles suffering damage. The tram was forming the 1607 Clifton South to Phoenix Park service and all passengers on board alighted at the scene of the collsion. 233 was moved to the centre track at The Forest to allow for normal services to resume and only minor delays were experienced.

Posted in Nottingham Express Transit | 1 Comment

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 12 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

We bring you another couple of Photo Galleries this week:

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Picture in Time: Midland Metro 15

Posted on Saturday 11 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

Its another visit into the photo archives for Picture in Time and in this edition we are in the West Midlands on Midland Metro with an image taken at the northern terminus of the line, Wolverhampton St George’s.

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Graz 210 moves in at NELSAM

Posted on Saturday 11 March 2017 by Andrew Waddington

One piece of news from the winter period which has gone unreported on British Trams Online – at least until now – was the arrival of Graz 210 at the North East Land, Sea & Air Museum late last year. Having been in secure storage for many years, the tram has now joined most of the collection of the North East Electrical Traction Trust at the Sunderland site and has also become the first non-Blackpool tramcar to be housed in their depot.

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Posted in North Eastern Electrical Transport Trust | 7 Comments

In Pictures: Tram-Trains finally start daylight testing

Posted on Thursday 9 March 2017 by Gareth Prior

A day it seemed was never going to come is finally upon us – the Tram-Trains for the Sheffield to Rotherham pilot (as well as adding additional capacity to the current Supertram network) have started daylight testing. The first daylight runs took place on Thursday 9th March and the sight of the Citylink vehicles is now expected to become a regular occurrence before the first of the class enter passenger service later this year.

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