Edinburgh Trams announce ticketing and timetable information

Posted on Tuesday 13 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

Details of the timetable and ticketing available on Edinburgh Trams has now been announced ahead of the opening of the line on Saturday 31st May. The first public tram will depart Gyle Centre at 0500 bound for York Place where it will then depart at 0530 before the first departure from Edinburgh Airport at 0618.

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Manx Heritage Transport Festival details announced

Posted on Tuesday 13 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

Isle of Man Railways have now confirmed the details of the annual Manx Heritage Transport Festival which this year takes place between 30th July and 3rd August. As always the event features events across the Island’s railways including the Steam Railway and of course the Manx Electric Railway and this year the leaflet produced also mentions the Douglas Horse Tramway. The MER will feature heavily on Wednesday 30th July, Thursday 31st July, Friday 1st August and Sunday 3rd August with another inventive and interesting programme of events planned.

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Crich Event Preview: Beside the Seaside

Posted on Tuesday 13 May 2014 by Andrew Waddington

During the school half term holidays at the end of May, Crich Tramway Village is being transformed into a seaside-style attraction, with a whole host of traditional activities to entertain visitors of all ages. For the first time ever, this now annual event has been expanded to run for nine days and an ambitious itinerary is planned, with the museum’s large collection of Blackpool trams expected to feature heavily. For enthusiasts, the main attraction is likely to be Blackpool Balloon car 711 which should be making its debut in service at Crich.

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Posted in Event Previews, National Tramway Museum | 16 Comments

Funding for Leeds 602 restoration rejected

Posted on Monday 12 May 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The Tramway Museum Society has turned down the offer of a substantial bequest to be spent on fully restoring Leeds 602 to an operational condition. Last year, a TMS member who was actively involved in the initial preservation of 602 back in 1960 very sadly passed away, leaving a legacy of around £250,000 to the Society to enable its restoration to a pristine condition. However, after much discussion and a ‘Condition Survey’, the TMS Board decided not to accept this very generous offer, as 602 is to be conserved in its current condition instead, and is therefore set to remain as a static exhibit indefinitely.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 140 Comments

British Trams Online this week

Posted on Sunday 11 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

Three more Photo Galleries feature as part of this week’s main site update of British Trams Online:

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More Blackpool trams to return to Rigby Road

Posted on Sunday 11 May 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Excellent news to report from Blackpool concerns two trams formerly owned by the Lancastrian Transport Trust, both of which are now set to be returned to their former home at Blackpool Transport’s Rigby Road depot. The trams concerned are Balloon car 704 and the illuminated ‘Rocket’ 732, both of which are expected to be rescued from outside storage and moved into more suitable undercover accomodation shortly.

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Busy going nowhere!

Posted on Sunday 11 May 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Recently, a large number of trams have been making road journeys to and from various parts of the UK. However, three proposed road trips by some very different trams were destined not to go ahead – here, we take a look at two trams which very nearly had a date with a low loader this month, as well as another which has had to wait longer than expected to move to a new home, but is expected to do so shortly.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum, North Eastern Electrical Transport Trust | 3 Comments

In Pictures: Glasgow 488 under restoration

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

Over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend the Ffestiniog Railway opened the doors to the Boston Lodge workshops as part of their gala and this gave members of the public a chance to see how far the restoration of Glasgow 488 has progressed. Of course as you will probably remember 488 has been repatriated from Paris and is to undergone a full restoration at Boston Lodge before the tram is moved to the East Anglia Transport Museum.

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In Pictures: NET 209 receives another new livery

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit 209 is running with another new look following the expansion of its adverts for The Milk Race alongside lime green ends. The two end cars are now complete in plain lime green with text at the top advising people to “Take the tram to the big event…” whilst the three centre cars have a white based advert for The Milk Race which this year is a two day event in Nottingham including the main cycle race on Sunday 25th May with the previous day seeing a festival of music and entertainment. The lime green ends match the colour of Nottingham City Council’s hire bikes so it may be that the idea is that the centre part of this advert is regularly changed to promote various events in the city with the ends remaining in situ, although only time will tell!

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In Pictures: Strange destination for Supertram

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

Rail replacement works are continuing on Stagecoach Supertram with the current work being concentrated beyond Gleadless Townend which means no trams are running to Halfway. Blue route trams are being diverted to Herdings Park with bus connections to Halfway available at Gleadless Townend and the Purple route only running off-peak. To aid passengers trams running on the Blue route are showing Halfway/Herdings as their destination as show in these photos.

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Latest M5000 arrives in Manchester

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

3083 has become the latest Bombardier built M5000 to arrive at Manchester Metrolink’s Queens Road Depot with it being delivered on Saturday 10th May. After unloading the LRV was moved into the workshops where a start will be made on commissioning it ahead of mileage accumulation and then an entry into service.

Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 1 Comment

Enter Stanley the Supertram

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

One of Stagecoach Supertram’ s trams has been immortalised in cartoon form in a new book written to mark the 60th anniversary of Stagecoach’s co-founder and Chairman Sir Brian Souter. Stanley the Supertram is one of a number of Stagecoach vehicles to feature in “A Very Special Family Party” written by Stagecoach employee Lindsay Reid.

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Whitefield Park and Ride to reopen

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

The expanded Park and Ride site at the Manchester Metrolink Whitefield stop is due to reopen on Monday 12 May following four months work. During the closure of the car park an extra deck of parking has been installed increasing the number of spaces from 127 to 216. Meanwhile work is continuing at Radcliffe to increase the number of spaces there from 250 to 369.

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Metrolink delays after taxi collides with tram in Rochdale

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink services were suspended between Newbold and Rochdale Town Centre for around half an hour on Thursday 8th May after a taxi was involved in a collision with a tram on Maclure Road. The incident occurred shortly before 1230 and partially blocked the line outside Rochdale railway station. No injuries were reported and services resumed at around 1300 after the area was cleared.

Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 2 Comments

Man dies after being hit by tram at Prestwich

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

A 33 year old man died on Monday 5th May after being hit by a tram at Prestwich. The man was pronounced dead at the scene after the incident at approximately 1330 which saw him become trapped under the tram. Metrolink services were only able to run between Bury and Whitefield and from Crumpsall to Altrincham whilst the emergency services were on the scene with passengers advised to use local bus services to bridge the gap on which Metrolink tickets were valid.

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Heritage Trams this week…

Posted on Friday 9 May 2014 by Gareth Prior

This is your one stop guide to when and where you can ride on heritage trams in the UK and Isle of Man. The highlights of the next week include a special event at the East Anglia Transport Museum (Suffolk Made & Operated on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th May), the start of operations for the year on the Douglas Horse Tramway (Monday 12th May) before the next special event takes place at the Crich Tramway Village: The Best of Sheffield (Saturday 17th-Friday 23rd May).

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Centenary cars and Boats for May Day Bank Holiday

Posted on Friday 9 May 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The May Day Bank Holiday weekend saw Blackpool’s heritage trams grace the promenade rails once again for two days, thanks to the financial support of the Fylde Tramway Society. Although most of the trams used were the same as those which ran at Easter, the weekend was particularly notable for the appearance of both of the Centenary cars which remain at Blackpool, which were making their first appearances in passenger service this year.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 1 Comment

Crich Event Preview: The Best of Sheffield

Posted on Thursday 8 May 2014 by Andrew Waddington

For one week during May, Crich Tramway Village is hosting a celebration of all things Sheffield to co-incide with the return to service of Sheffield 510 after a major overhaul and repaint in its special ‘Last Tram’ livery. As well as the trams themselves, this special event will feature other historic vehicles, food and drink and much more from the famous ‘steel city’. Read on for a full preview of what to expect from this event.

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Posted in Event Previews, National Tramway Museum | 8 Comments

Blackpool Balloon 701 enters the works

Posted on Thursday 8 May 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Pleasing news to report is that Blackpool Balloon car 701 has finally entered the Rigby Road workshops in preparation for a full repaint in the popular red and white livery it carried between 1991 and 1993, immediately following its last major overhaul. This work is being generously funded by the Fylde Tramway Society following an appeal for donations towards the cost of repainting this popular tram in its most famous livery from the past.

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Another Crich tram to rise from the dead

Posted on Thursday 8 May 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Fresh from the news that Blackpool & Fleetwood 2, Southampton 45 and Oporto 273 have all rejoined the operating fleet at Crich Tramway Village for the 2014 season, comes another surprise comeback for a once regular workhorse at this museum. Sheffield 330 was a member of the works car fleet for many years but following the restoration of Cardiff 131, it was replaced in its role as the main railgrinder/water car and the car has been largely inactive since, apart from the 2012 season due its replacement being at Blackpool for part of the year.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 5 Comments