Rochdale town centre extension to open 31st March

Posted on Saturday 22 March 2014 by Gareth Prior

The next Manchester Metrolink extension to open will be the Rochdale town centre line with Transport for Greater Manchester now confirming this will carry its first passengers on Monday 31st March – subject to final testing.

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In Pictures: NET 208 receives fleet livery

Posted on Saturday 22 March 2014 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit Incentro 208 has finally received standard fleet livery having been operating in a plain red livery since December 2013 following the removal of its all over advert for e-on. The tram was seen operating in fleet livery on 17th March having been through the workshops for its full refurbishment. This now means that there are five of the 15 strong class of Incentro trams running in non-standard liveries: 201 (Nottingham Contemporary ad), 206 (e-on ad), 207 (purple), 209 (Interski ad), 211 (Alstom ad).

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No delay for start of Manx Electric Railway season

Posted on Saturday 22 March 2014 by Gareth Prior

Despite fears that the 2014 season on the Manx Electric Railway would start with a truncated service it has now been confirmed that repairs at Ballaglass are to commence next week with the initial work expected to be completed by 4th April.

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Posted in Manx Electric Railway | 2 Comments

Next stage of Supertram track replacement work set to start

Posted on Saturday 22 March 2014 by Gareth Prior

The second phase of rail replacement works on the Stagecoach Supertram network is due to commence from Saturday 29th March and will continue in various stages until September (with a short break for the Tour de France). Work will initially start in the Hillsborough area before moving on to Halfway, Hyde Park and City Hall. This work follows on from last year’s work between Spring Lane and Park Grange Croft tram stops which saw almost 5,000 metres of rail replaced in a four month closure.

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Manchester Metrolink Performance Update

Posted on Saturday 22 March 2014 by Gareth Prior

The latest statistics of Manchester Metrolink have been released giving details on the performance of the service, any major incidents, trams out of service and the number of complaints received. The latest document concentrates on period 10 (Monday 6th January to Sunday 2nd February 2014) and a summary of this is provided below.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 4 Comments

Edinburgh plan ahead for Leith extension

Posted on Saturday 22 March 2014 by Gareth Prior

Forthcoming road works along Leith Walk are to be undertaken in such a way that will “tram proof” the route of any future extension of Edinburgh’s tram system. The works, due to be approved by Councillors this month, will see a number of road, pavement and cycle improvements take place but so as to try and not inconvenience residents and businesses in the area they will take into account the proposed alignment of any tram extension.

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 2 Comments

Manchester Metrolink Improvement Works: Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th March

Posted on Saturday 22 March 2014 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink services will not run between Piccadilly Station and Ashton-under-Lyne on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th March as there are gas works taking place alongside the tramway. All trams from Eccles will terminate at Piccadilly running via MediaCityUK with replacement buses in place from Piccadilly to Ashton. In addition on Sunday 30th March trams will be suspended between Timperley and Altrincham before 0900.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 3 Comments

A rare look at Blackpool Brush car 626

Posted on Friday 21 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Since moving to the Birkenhead tramway in August 2010 after being sold to Merseytravel, Blackpool Brush Railcoach 626 has hardly ever been seen by members of the public, spending most of its time tucked up inside the Pacific Road depot building. However, some members of the Merseyside Tramway Preseravtion Society required access to the building on Friday 21st March 2014, and thanks to this we have a rare shot of this tram in its current surroundings.

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Posted in Birkenhead Heritage Tramway | 1 Comment

Ambitious target set for LCC 1 launch date

Posted on Friday 21 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The major restoration of London County Council 1, the tram popularly known as ‘Bluebird’, may not have started yet – but that has not deterred its sponsors from revealing a target date for its return to service. The London County Council Tramways Trust are funding the tram’s reconstruction in the workshops at Crich Tramway Village, and aiming to have the work completed in time for a special anniversary in 2018.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 10 Comments

More good news for Blackpool’s heritage trams

Posted on Thursday 20 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The good news keeps coming from the Blackpool tramway of late, and following on from the initial disappointment regarding the reduced number of operating days for the heritage fleet this year compared with 2013, another positive step has been taken to reverse this unpopular but understandable decision. Two more running days have now been added to the existing programme, taking the total up to a credible thirteen days, which is just two short of what we had last year.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 3 Comments

Vintage trams to Starr Gate

Posted on Wednesday 19 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The tenth annual ‘Totally Transport’ event, held on Blackpool’s New South Promenade, has been enhanced this year thanks to the excellent news that Blackpool Transport will be operating their heritage tram service to Starr Gate for this event. Normally the heritage fleet are not allowed to run in passenger service south of Pleasure Beach, but this rule will be relaxed for one day only in 2014!

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Progress for Blackpool Balloon 726?

Posted on Tuesday 18 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust have used their newly revamped website to announce details of their latest project to create a new static display tram, utilising Blackpool Balloon car 726. This tram is one of several which is currently in outside storage at the Fleetwood fish docks, but could soon be set for a radical makeover which would create a new illuminated feature tram for display near the Pleasure Beach.

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Posted in Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 6 Comments

Looking forwards and back at East Anglia

Posted on Tuesday 18 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

As another operating season approaches for the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville near Lowestoft, now seems a good time to reflect on the successes of 2013 for this superb museum, as well as looking forward to some of the planned developments expected for the year ahead.

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Posted in East Anglia Transport Museum | 2 Comments

Heritage tramways prepare for spring

Posted on Monday 17 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

As the start of the main 2014 season approaches for most of Britain’s heritage tramways, preparations for the onslaught of visitors is now well underway at several different locations across the country. Trams at Blackpool, Crich and Manchester have all been undergoing various work in the last few weeks, in readiness to carry their first passengers of the year.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Heaton Park Tramway, National Tramway Museum | 6 Comments

Open cars rule at Crich in 2013

Posted on Monday 17 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The annual tramcar mileage figures published by the National Tramway Museum Society always make for interesting reading, and the statistics for the 2013 season which have just been published are particularly fascinating. Thanks to a glorious summer, two of the four trams which ran more than 1000 miles at Crich were open cars, and it is also noteworthy that the top three trams were all unserviceable just two years ago. This has given some of the ‘old guard’ a bit of a rest, and it is also welcome to see more variety and interest in a running fleet which had often served up a very predictable selection of vehicles in the recent past.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 2 Comments

Midland Metro gets £5 million for track replacement

Posted on Sunday 16 March 2014 by Gareth Prior

The Department for Transport are to give £5 million in funding to Midland Metro to allow for track replacement in the Bilston Road area of Wolverhampton this summer. The tracks in this area are now 15 years old and are said to be badly worn and if not replaced soon the Metro service reliability would suffer in the future.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 7 Comments

Edinburgh’s exercise “Salvador” a success

Posted on Sunday 16 March 2014 by Gareth Prior

The first mass transportation of passengers on the Edinburgh Trams system has been deemed a success following the completion of exercise “Salvador”. 1,000 volunteers were involved in the exercise which was testing crowd control procedures at Murrayfield Stadium.

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 6 Comments

Works wagon returns to Manx Electric Railway

Posted on Thursday 13 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

An unusual item of rolling stock has made a welcome return to prominence on the Isle of Man, following a number of years in limbo. The 1897-built Wagon 10 has recently been moved by road back to the Manx Electric Railway sheds at Derby Castle; a move which should allow it to make some special appearances on the line in connection with some of this year’s enthusiast events.

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Twin car sighted at Starr Gate

Posted on Thursday 13 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The latest member of Blackpool’s heritage tram fleet to pay a visit to the state-of-the-art tram depot at Starr Gate, is Twin set 272+T2. The pair first visited this building last autumn to rectify some minor defects, and now they have returned in preparation for use during 2014. When cutbacks for the heritage tram service were announced it was feared that the Twin car – which requires a crew of three whenever it runs – may struggle to find a role on the tramway this year, but happily it is now being commissioned early in the year.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 7 Comments

Blackpool lights switch-on event to be free

Posted on Wednesday 12 March 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Last year, what is normally one of the busiest weekends of the year for the town of Blackpool was ruined by an attempt to make money out of the annual illuminations switch-on event, which was replaced by two concerts held on the Tower Festival Headland with previously free tickets on sale at a fairly high price. Thankfully, it has been decided to revert to holding a free event for 2014, leading to some hopes that the tramway may not have this weekend completely spoilt this year.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 2 Comments