Edinburgh overhead line set to go live on complete line

Posted on Tuesday 5 November 2013 by Gareth Prior

Tuesday 19th November will go down as another major milestone in the Edinburgh Tram project when the overhead line is energised between Bankhead Tram Stop and York Place, meaning that the entire length of the tramway will be live for the first time. This will be the forerunner to full system testing commencing in December ahead of an opening of the tramway by May 2014.

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Manchester Metrolink Improvement Works: Saturday 9th November

Posted on Tuesday 5 November 2013 by Gareth Prior

The next set of improvement works on Manchester Metrolink will take place on Saturday 9th November, which will see alterations to the service again. The work is again centred around Victoria and will mean no trams are able to run between Crumpsall/Central Park and Piccadilly Gardens with replacement bus services running instead. Trams will continue to operate Altrincham-Piccadilly, Bury-Crumpsall, East Didsbury-Piccadilly, Eccles-Ashton-under-Lyne and Rochdale Railway Station-Central Park. As usual the replacement bus services will be unable to serve Shudehill or Market Street. Normal services should resume from the start of service on Sunday 10th November.

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Start date confirmed for NEETT depot construction

Posted on Monday 4 November 2013 by Andrew Waddington

As many tramways wind down for the year – at least in terms of welcoming visitors – the North Eastern Electrical Traction Trust are now gearing up for what will almost certainly be the most intense period of activity in their history to date. Following a meeting held with the contractors who have been given the task of constructing the new shed which will house the organisation’s growing fleet of trams, a start date for building works to begin has been agreed, and work is now scheduled to commence on 25th November.

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Crich closes its doors on 2013 season

Posted on Monday 4 November 2013 by Andrew Waddington

Sunday 3rd November was the last day of the 2013 operating season at Crich Tramway Village. The final open weekend of the year was actually quite an eventful one, with a number of non-operational trams being shunted around the depot area, including London Transport 1, Blackpool & Fleetwood 2, Metropolitan 331 and Glasgow 1282.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 1 Comment

A Twin car treat for half term week

Posted on Monday 4 November 2013 by Andrew Waddington

For tram enthusiasts in Blackpool, the highlight of the recent school half-term holiday was probably the use of Twin set 272+T2 on illumination tours. The beautifully painted cream Twin car had not carried passengers since May, but emerged on the evening of October 27th to boost capacity on the tours, due to increased demand created by the school holidays.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 3 Comments

Blackpool ‘Boat’ 233 runs in America

Posted on Friday 1 November 2013 by Andrew Waddington

On October 31st, Blackpool ‘Boat’ 233 (605) ran under its own power for the first time since arriving at its new American home in San Francisco. Since the tram arrived just one week ago, a considerable amount of work has been undertaken on the tram which is now expected to go on display at the San Francisco Railway Museum on Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd November, although there are no immediate plans for the tram’s entry into passenger service.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Heritage Trams this week…

Posted on Thursday 31 October 2013 by Andrew Waddington

The days may be getting shorter and the weather might be getting colder, but there are still a few places in the UK where you can get a vintage trams fix – and if that’s what you want in the next week, you’ve come to the right place! As always, please note that all the information here is given in good faith but you are advised to check before travelling any significant distance with the organisations involved.

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Cosmetic attention for Edinburgh 35

Posted on Thursday 31 October 2013 by Andrew Waddington

Surprising news from Crich Tramway Village involves arguably one of the most undervalued trams on display at Crich, which has recently moved into the workshop to receive its first significant attention since joining the national tram collection. The tram in question is Edinburgh 35, which is set to receive some work to improve its slightly shabby external appearance.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 1 Comment

In Pictures: Blackpool trams celebrate Halloween at Crich

Posted on Wednesday 30 October 2013 by Andrew Waddington

One of the most popular annual events at Crich Tramway Village was held on Saturday 26th October, in the shape of the ever-popular Starlight Halloween event. For one night only, trams operated in passenger service until 9:00pm and the village was decorated in an appropriately spooky fashion! After dark, the site was bathed in illuminated effects, whilst the woodland walk was transformed with various creepy characters adding to the occasion.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 9 Comments

Heaton Park Autumn Gala scaled down

Posted on Tuesday 29 October 2013 by Andrew Waddington

The Heaton Park Tramway has released a statement confirming that its advertised Autumn Gala day on Sunday 17th November has been reduced in scope. This is due to the fact that work on the new Lakeside Depot is not sufficiently complete to enable any trams to move inside, and therefore no more cars can be commissioned for operation in time for the event. Although depot work is progressing well, with installation of the first overhead wires now underway, a few minor setbacks have sadly made an already challenging target too great to achieve.

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Posted in Heaton Park Tramway | 5 Comments

Crich announce first events for 2014

Posted on Tuesday 29 October 2013 by Andrew Waddington

Crich Tramway Village have uploaded details of the first few special events for the 2014 season to their website – although thus far this consists of little to interest the tram enthusiast market. Just four ‘premiere’ events have been confirmed so far, these being two 1940s themed weekends, as well as the familiar ‘Beside the Seaside’ and Edwardian events.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 23 Comments

Winter closure for Heaton Park

Posted on Monday 28 October 2013 by Andrew Waddington

The Manchester Transport Museum Society have decided not to operate a tram service on the Heaton Park Tramway during December 2013 and January 2014, having run throughout the winter period apart from a short Christmas break in the last couple of years. As it stands, the tramway’s final day of operation for 2013 will be Sunday 24th November, when the normal winter service will operate between 12:00 noon and 4:00pm.

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Posted in Heaton Park Tramway | 3 Comments

Blackpool ‘Boat’ 233 docks in San Francisco

Posted on Sunday 27 October 2013 by Andrew Waddington

The long journey of Blackpool ‘Boat’ 233 to its new American home is finally over, with the car reaching its final destination of the Market Street Railway in San Francisco on Friday 25th October. This followed a mammoth journey for the iconic 1934 tramcar, which had reportedly travelled along the Panama Canal – pretty appropriate for a Boat car really!

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Posted in Fylde Transport Trust | 4 Comments

Balloon cars prepare for winter weather

Posted on Sunday 27 October 2013 by Andrew Waddington

Two Blackpool Balloon cars in different locations have been undergoing preparations for the worsening weather expected as winter approaches, with contrasting jobs being carried out on cars 701 and 721 within the past week. This is a slightly depressing reminder of the fact that winter is almost here again, and with gale force winds predicted to hit the UK in the next few days, it seems particularly timely.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, North Eastern Electrical Transport Trust | 2 Comments

The Balloons are back!

Posted on Saturday 26 October 2013 by Andrew Waddington

The school half-term holidays at the end of October traditionally mark the busiest period of the year for the Blackpool tramway, as many families flock to the seaside to see the illuminations. Last year, this was reflected by Blackpool Transport’s decision to use modified Balloon cars in normal passenger service, and this was repeated for 2013 – although disappointingly it is expected that these trams will only run for two days.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 5 Comments

Aberdeen plan for tram system?

Posted on Friday 25 October 2013 by Gareth Prior

Councillors in Aberdeen are discussing the possibility of returning trams to the city and are calling on Scottish government support to conduct a feasibility study to see whether it would be worth their while progressing the plans. The proposed plan would see lines running between Dyce and Aberdeen International Airport and from the harbour to Cove via Torry. Council chiefs believe the line would be needed as more than 30,000 homes are being planned for the city over the next ten to 15 years.

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Heritage Trams this week…

Posted on Friday 25 October 2013 by Gareth Prior

It’s time again for us to remind you just where you can travel on heritage trams in the UK and Isle of Man over the next week or so as major operations start to draw to a close for the year. All the information here is given in good faith but you are advised to check before travelling any significant distance with the organisations involved.

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Supertram rail replacement work nears completion

Posted on Friday 25 October 2013 by Gareth Prior

Services on Stagecoach Supertram are expected to return to normal during the week commencing 11th November – subject to weather conditions – when the rail replacement works on Park Grange Road finally come to a close. Nearly 5,000 metres of rail has been replaced and Volkerrail are now completing the final 5% of the works – although dry weather is required to complete this work and so any prolonged spells of wet weather will mean a further delay to the programme.

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NET driver jobs advertised

Posted on Friday 25 October 2013 by Gareth Prior

As part of the expansion of Nottingham Express Transit, adverts have been placed for more tram drivers to join the team. With a salary starting at £19,552 and rising to £20,883.20 when qualified the jobs have a deadline of 31st October. No formal qualifications are required but applicants must have a full driving licence for at least 12 months with a maximum of six penalty points. Application forms can be found at  http://goss.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=25636 where further details are available on the job. (And don’t even think about contacting us about this job vacancy we are not Nottingham Trams Limited!)

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Manchester Metrolink Performance Update

Posted on Friday 25 October 2013 by Gareth Prior

It is time again to take a look at the recent performance of Manchester Metrolink following the release on the TfGM Committee website of the latest statistics. The report gives details on the performance of the service, any major incidents, trams out of service and the number of complaints which have been received during period 4 (Monday 22nd July to Sunday 18th August 2013) and a summary of this is provided below.

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