Early chance to ride on Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Tuesday 25 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

As part of the continued testing and commissioning of the Edinburgh Tram line ahead of its opening later this year volunteers are being sought to help officials evaluate crowd management procedures. The event will take place on Thursday 13th March at the Murrayfield stop and up to 1,000 members of the public are required with one of the benefits of volunteering being that you get to ride on the tram before it officially opens to the public!

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 1 Comment

NET to celebrate 10th anniversary with city centre activities

Posted on Tuesday 25 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on Friday 28th February and Saturday 1st March with a series of fun activities in Old Market Square. A marquee in Smithy Row will be the base for a display highlighting the success of the tram over the past decade and also what the future will bring.

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British Trams Online writer unveils first tram book

Posted on Tuesday 25 February 2014 by Andrew Waddington

British Tram Online‘s regular news writer Andrew Waddington has just released his first ever tram book. Entitled ‘Blackpool Trams – Where are they now?’ the book aims to provide a concise illustrated guide to every Blackpool tram that survives today outside of Blackpool Transport’s ownership. In this blatant plug, Andrew explains a bit more about his latest project.

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Posted in People | 6 Comments

This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 23 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

More photos for you to have a look at as part of this week’s main site update of British Trams Online

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Lightning strikes twice for Stockport 5

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The saying that lightning never strikes twice has unfortunately been proved untrue by the Manchester Transport Museum Society, who have had to withdraw the planned loan of Stockport 5 to Beamish for their main transport event in April for the second year running. This is the latest of several less than ideal developments affecting the Manchester tramway, although the MTMS remain optimistic that the loan will still go ahead at a later date.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway, Heaton Park Tramway | 16 Comments

Mixed fortunes for the Crich horse tram fleet

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Andrew Waddington

In a pleasing development, anyone who fancies a ride on a horse tram at Crich Tramway Village this year won’t have to attend the Edwardian event, as Sheffield 15 will also be operating for a special Sheffield-themed event in May. However, and rather surprisingly, the decision has been made that it will only run on one day for the annual Edwardian Weekend, even though, as its name suggests, the event actually lasts for two days.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 3 Comments

Picture in Time 14: Balloon 711 through the years

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Andrew Waddington

To mark the upcoming transfer to the National Tramway Museum of Blackpool Balloon car 711 on an initial two-year loan, our occasional Picture in Time feature puts the spotlight on this tram, featuring three liveries it has carried over the past decade. With so many unique and exciting trams in the Blackpool fleet, workhorses like 711 sometimes get overlooked so this is an ideal opportunity to remind ourselves of the important role it has played on the Blackpool tramway for the past eighty years.

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Posted in Picture in Time | 1 Comment

Midland Metro 20 arrives

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

The fourth of the CAF built trams for Midland Metro finally arrived at Wednesbury Depot on Friday 21st February after two previous false starts caused by poor weather conditions. Number 20 was originally due to arrive a fortnight ago but the continued rough sea conditions between Spain and the UK meant it was unable to set sail.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 5 Comments

Lost Trams 11: Glasgow 585

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

Next up in our Lost Trams series is a tram which has been out of the public eye since 1999 but which does remain in the UK – Glasgow 585.

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Posted in Lost Trams | 11 Comments

Manchester Metrolink service pattern from Monday 24th February

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

The exact service pattern on Manchester Metrolink as from Monday 24th February for the next nine months has now been confirmed on their official website with the Bury-Altrincham direct service confirmed as operating all every day with the Altrincham-Piccadilly and Bury-Abraham Moss services only running at peak times.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 2 Comments

Daytime testing starts in Edinburgh city centre

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

As reported earlier this week daytime testing in Edinburgh city centre has now commenced with the first test run taking place shortly after 1500 on Thursday 20th February. Tram 265 was the tram chosen to undertake this first run and judging by the reaction on social media sites it seems to have proved to be popular with photographers in the city.

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams | 4 Comments

In Pictures: Manchester Metrolink T68As continue to fly the flag

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

The two remaining Manchester Metrolink T68As – 2001 and 2003 – continue to be operational and are still seeing fairly regular use. It is expected that from Monday 24th February they will be restricted to the Bury-Abraham Moss shuttle (considering that the Bury-Altrincham direct service will be operated solely by double units and they aren’t able to operate in a pair) but in the past week they have been able to stretch their legs a bit more. Photos are provided below showing both of the LRVs in action both at Bury and at the Altrincham end of the line.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 1 Comment

In Pictures: Unusual destinations on Manchester Metrolink

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

With engineering works, sorry improvement works, taking place on the Manchester Metrolink network on Sunday 23rd February a number of unusual destinations were carried on some of the LRVs in action on this day. Previously it has been normal for the vehicles to still carry the normal destination regardless of whether they are turning short but on this day Abraham Moss and West Didsbury were both used whilst on the previous day Football Special was used for the Manchester City game at the Etihad Stadium.

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In Pictures: Manchester Metrolink – Droylsden

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

On Sunday 16th February with ongoing improvement works affecting Manchester Metrolink services from Eccles were extended through to Ashton-under-Lyne – a service which will operate for the next month as a result of the Victoria Station works. With thanks to Steve Kemp we are able to bring you a few images of M5000s at Droylsden on this day.

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New Cab Ride DVDs available

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

Two new cab ride DVDs have recently been released featuring footage from the Blackpool Tramway and London Tramlink. As well as featuring full uninterrupted cab rides both DVDs include speeded up journeys.

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DLR sets new performance records

Posted on Saturday 22 February 2014 by Gareth Prior

The Docklands Light Railway has set a new record for punctuality and performance with 99.67% of trains running on time between 5th January and 1st February whilst during the same period 99.77% of all scheduled services ran.

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Seaton trams return to the road – literally!

Posted on Friday 21 February 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Just one week ago, the Seaton Tramway in Devon was devastated by severe weather conditions, which flooded the tramway’s offices, damaged overhead poles and washed away part of the track bed, scuppering plans to re-open for business in time for the school half term holidays. However, the attraction is now set to burst back into life thanks the imagination of its operators, who have taken extreme lengths to restore a tram service mere days after disaster struck.

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Posted in Seaton Tramway | 2 Comments

A bright future for the Sunderland Balloon

Posted on Friday 21 February 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The long-term future of Blackpool Balloon car 703 is now looking more secure than ever before, following the announcement that it has become the latest tram to be sold by the Lancastrian Transport Trust to a new owner. The tram has now been acquired by Beamish Museum, where it has operated frequently since 2011 in the guise of Sunderland 101.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway, Fylde Transport Trust | 9 Comments

Sheffield 510 comes back to life

Posted on Tuesday 18 February 2014 by Andrew Waddington

A major milestone in the extensive overhaul of Sheffield ‘Roberts’ car 510 at the National Tramway Museum, Crich, occured on Tuesday 18th February, when the tram emerged from the workshop under its own power for the first time since major work commenced on it some eighteen months ago. This brings the popular tramcar a step closer towards its return to passenger service, expected at a special event being held in May.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 2 Comments

MTMS launch Blackpool tram support fund

Posted on Monday 17 February 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The Manchester Transport Museum Society have launched a new fund which has been created specifically to support the various Blackpool trams it has acquired for operation at the Heaton Park Tramway. This will allow fans of the classic Blackpool cars that have been preserved in Manchester to support them, with a brand new fund being set up to keep money allocated to Blackpool and Manchester trams separate.

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Posted in Heaton Park Tramway | 1 Comment