Brush 290 to go undercover

Posted on Sunday 28 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Blackpool Brush 290 which has spent the past three years on display adjacent to the Pleasure Beach loop in a variety of guises is set to enjoy undercover storage for the first time since 2012 as part of an agreement between its owners the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust, Blackpool Transport and the Blackpool Heritage Trust. It is expected that the tram will be transported the short distance to Rigby Road later this year and replaced by Centenary 641 which will be the centerpiece of a Blackpool FC centered display for the 2015 Illuminations.

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Posted in Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 2 Comments

Metrolink Transformation work starts at St Peter’s Square

Posted on Sunday 28 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The latest phase of Transformation work on Manchester Metrolink has started at St Peter’s Square with services through this location now set to be disrupted for 14 months. No trams at all will be running through St Peter’s Square from Sunday 28th June for eight weeks as the first stage of works is undertaken and then following the completion of this stage another year of disruption will be experienced by passengers as the stop is transformed to have four platform faces for services on both the original cross city line and the Second City Crossing.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 9 Comments

Manx Heritage Transport Festival – the details

Posted on Sunday 28 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

It is now little over a month until the annual Manx Heritage Transport Festival takes place on the Isle of Man which seems an opportune moment for a quick round-up of just what is due to happen and when between 29th July and 2nd August. Once again in 2015 there are plenty of events to keep visiting enthusiasts entertained with the Manx Electric Railway featuring heavily alongside the Isle of Man Steam Railway.

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Picture in Time: Stagecoach Supertram 104 & 121

Posted on Sunday 28 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

We head back to Sheffield for our latest “Picture in Time” feature as we show not one but two trams in action on the – by now – Stagecoach Supertram network in 2000.

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In Pictures: Metrolink’s M5000 3100 enters service

Posted on Saturday 27 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

As expected Manchester Metrolink’s latest M5000 entered service on Saturday 27th June. After the launch ceremony at Trafford Depot the previous day 3100 was allocated to service on the Piccadilly to MediaCityUK circuit – one of the routes which is diagrammed using trams allocated to Trafford Depot which is where the tram now calls home. Who would have thought when Metrolink opened in 1992 that just 23 years later there would be a fleet of 100 trams – none of which were part of the fleet back then?! With thanks to Steve Kemp for the photos.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 3 Comments

In Pictures: Stadler 2560 starts testing

Posted on Friday 26 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Since arriving in Croydon at the start of May little has been reported of 2560 which is the first of the second batch of Stadler Variobahn’s for operation on London Tramlink but after several weeks of commissioning the tram has now ventured onto the mainline for the start of the extensive testing process.

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Posted in London Trams | 1 Comment

First Tram-Train for Sheffield nears completion

Posted on Friday 26 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The first of seven Tram-Trains for use on Stagecoach Supertram is nearing completion in Spain with the first pictures of the vehicle under construction having recently been released on social media by Supertram. The seven vehicles are being built by Vossloh at their factor near Valencia and the first is due to be delivered to Sheffield in November once initial testing has taken place.

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Posted in South Yorkshire Supertram | 1 Comment

Picture in Time: Blackpool Jubilee 761

Posted on Friday 26 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The latest subject of “Picture in Time” is Blackpool Jubilee 761 as we take a look at a couple of images taken of the tram back in 1984 whilst it was operating on the Fleetwood to Starr Gate service.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Picture in Time | 1 Comment

Metrolink give 3100 an official launch

Posted on Friday 26 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The excitement over Manchester Metrolink’s one hundredth M5000 hasn’t abated yet as an official launch event for 3100 has taken place at Trafford Depot ahead of the tram entering service this weekend. Staff from Transport for Greater Manchester and RATP Dev – operator of Metrolink – celebrated the completion of the work to commission the tram into service at the depot on Friday 26th June.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 1 Comment

Maintenance work disrupts Crich services

Posted on Friday 26 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Its not only the main public transport tramways who have to disrupt services due to engineering works as was shown at the Crich Tramway Village on Wednesday 24th June. Necessary maintenance work was required on the points at the north end of Wakebridge which meant that all trams were terminated at Wakebridge between the opening of the Museum until around 1400.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 1 Comment

Latest phase of Supertram rail replacement works to finish early

Posted on Friday 26 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Area 7 of the Stagecoach Supertram rail replacement works within Sheffield City Centre are set to end early with normal services now due to operate on all routes over the weekend of Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June. Recent progress has been made at the Cathedral tramstop with finishing off works – as shown in the photos below – now underway ahead of the completion of this period of works.

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Manchester Metrolink Performance Update

Posted on Friday 26 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

With the new Council structure now in place it is time for the regular Transport for Greater Manchester Metrolink and Rail Networks sub-committee meetings to start once again and we can bring you all the latest performance updates on Manchester Metrolink. This review looks at three periods: Period 12 (Monday 2nd March to Sunday 29th March), Period 13 (Monday 30th March to Sunday 26th April) and Period 1 (Monday 27th April to Sunday 24th May) and we look at the recent service performance, details of major incidents, the trams, the number of complaints received and patronage.

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Going for a ride…

Posted on Thursday 25 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Welcome to our weekly round-up of just when and where you can go for a ride on a heritage tram within the British Isles over the next seven days. After a busy few weeks of tram events this week actually sees no specific special events at any of the tramways included in this review but as you know that doesn’t mean that there is absolutely nothing going on as there are still 12 different tramways in four different countries operating during this period. And often just “normal operating” days provide plenty of action anyway so there is no excuse not to get out there and have a ride!

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Picture in Time: Sunderland 100

Posted on Tuesday 23 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Today our “Picture in Time” tram features probably one of the most controversial repaints ever seen on a heritage tram – the British Steel advert livery on Sunderland 100 when it ran at the Gateshead Garden Festival.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum, Picture in Time | 8 Comments

New Wimbledon platform work to continue

Posted on Tuesday 23 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

London Tramlink services to Wimbledon will be suspended from 13th July until October as work to install the new platform at this important terminus continues. As previously reported once the work is completed a new platform arrangement will be in place which will enable two trams at once to be in situ which will enable a 50% increase in services of to be implemented.

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Posted in London Trams | 1 Comment

DLR trains receive RidewithPride wrap

Posted on Tuesday 23 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Two Docklands Light Railway units have received vinyl wrap liveries to mark the Pride on London Festival which is taking place this week. The bright and iconic rainbow livery will be carried on 64 and 89 until later this year and completes a hatrick of special liveried vehicles in the capital following on from a New Routemaster and a London black cab.

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Posted in Docklands Light Railway | 1 Comment

Blackpool 680 on the move again

Posted on Monday 22 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Despite having only arrived in Manchester at the end of March following a period of operation at Beamish Museum, Blackpool Ex-Towing car 680 will soon be leaving the Heaton Park Tramway for another loan period. This time, the car is set to return ‘home’ to Blackpool, where it will be joining the heritage fleet as a temporary new addition to coincide with celebrations marking the 130th anniversary of the famous coastal system, and to help fill a gap in the resident heritage collection.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Heaton Park Tramway | 10 Comments

Starr Gate to Fleetwood by heritage tram

Posted on Monday 22 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

On Sunday 21st June, a specially amended gold timetabled operated with the Blackpool heritage tram fleet. This day should have witnessed the Totally Transport event which had been held annually on New South Promenade since 2005, but which was sadly cancelled this year. However, undeterred by this setback Blackpool Transport decided to operate its heritage trams to Starr Gate anyway, and it would be fair to state that this was a great success.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 6 Comments

Picture in Time: Manchester Metrolink 1006

Posted on Sunday 21 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The latest instalment of “Picture in Time” is once again back in Manchester as we take a look at Metrolink T68 1006 in a view at Queens Road Depot.

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675+685 go green and cream

Posted on Saturday 20 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

A tantilising glimpse of the next exciting project set to be unveiled by the Blackpool Heritage Trust and Blackpool Transport’s workshops has been given, in the shape of a preview of the work undertaken so far on Twin set 675+685. So far only the trailer has been in the works but work on repainting 685 into an appropriate livery style is already at quite an advanced level.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 5 Comments