Plenty of seats up top on Leeds 107!

Posted on Saturday 15 December 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The restoration of the last surviving Leeds horse tramcar, Leeds 107, continues to make impressive progress at the Middleton Railway. One of the most visible accomplishments since the tram arrived at this location late in the summer, has been the fitting of the  wooden seats on the car’s open top deck. This has really changed 107‘s appearance dramatically and gives a good impression of how it will look when completed next year.

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New old look for Brush car 631

Posted on Saturday 15 December 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Following on from the news that Blackpool Brush Railcoach 631 is to be repainted in a historic livery for its new role as part of the Blackpool tramway’s heritage fleet, it has now been revealed that some further changes will be made to this car. The tram is set to regain swingover seats in order to enhance its appeal as a historic tram, and may yet receive some further changes too.

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Stockport 5 under attention

Posted on Friday 14 December 2012 by Andrew Waddington

As reported previously, Stockport 5 is receiving some well-deserved attention at the Heaton Park Tramway this winter. The car has put in excellent service since it arrival at its new home in August 2011, but it is currently undergoing a range of cosmetic work and general repairs to improve its appearance. Here, an update is provided on what has been achieved so far.

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Friends in high places for Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust

Posted on Friday 14 December 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Local dignitaries have recently been offering their support to the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust’s initiatives to develop a tramway heritage centre in the town of Fleetwood. On November 16th, two local Politicians were shown around the planned site of the proposed museum, whilst a well-known transport author has also offered support to the project recently.

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Posted in Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 14 Comments

A new extension and an old friend in Manchester for December 16th

Posted on Thursday 13 December 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Sunday 16th December 2012 is set to go down in history as a great day in Manchester’s rich tramway history, with the long-awaited opening of the latest section of the new Rochdale to Oldham line on Metrolink. In addition, there will be a welcome nod to the past on the same day at the city’s preserved tramway, giving fans of old and new tram systems a great excuse to visit Manchester.

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Posted in Heaton Park Tramway, Manchester Metrolink | 1 Comment

Paint brush for Blackpool 631

Posted on Wednesday 12 December 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Blackpool Transport’s last remaining Brush Railcoach, car 631, has recently lost its all-over advert for Walls Ice Cream. The tram is currently being prepared for a full repaint in light of its new status as a member of the heritage fleet, and is expected to shed its bright red paint in favour of a more appropriate green and cream livery.

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First tram reaches Edinburgh Airport

Posted on Wednesday 12 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

The first tram has reached Edinburgh Airport as progress continues to be made in the project to return trams to the City. As reported previously the overhead power was switched on between Gogar Depot and the Airport on 26th November as a prelude to testing trams on this section of track and Wednesday 12th November saw the first tram – 277 – made tentative steps on the line, the first significant movements of a tram in Edinburgh since 1956 when the original system closed.

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Two trams from South of England under threat

Posted on Tuesday 11 December 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Recent developments in the UK tramway scene have caused many tram enthusiasts to fear for the future of various Blackpool trams that have been sold off and placed in outside storage for various new owners. However, it is even more alarming to have to report that two much rarer trams are currently facing uncertain futures: the most complete surviving tram from the Bournemouth system, and a horse car originating from London.

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Posted in General, National Tramway Museum | 4 Comments

Blackpool’s ‘Santa Express’ package is poorly received

Posted on Tuesday 11 December 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The latest duty for Blackpool Transport’s retained fleet of historic trams, the ‘Santa Express’, commenced on Saturday 8th December. The illuminted Western Train 733+734 is booked to operate three round trips between Pleasure Beach and Little Bispham on Saturdays and Sundays over the three weekends before Christmas – but unfortunately the company’s newest venture hasn’t got off to a very good start.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 7 Comments

Ticket machine contract set to be approved in Edinburgh

Posted on Monday 10 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

What is being described as the final significant tram contract is set to be approved in Edinburgh with Parkeon the preferred bidder to provide and maintain ticket vending machines for the tram system. Parkeon currently provide ticketing services for Lothian Buses and this is one of the reasons why they have been chosen so an integrated ticketing system can be introduced in the City.

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Metrolink Service Performance Update

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

The latest service performance statistics on the Manchester Metrolink system have been released on the TfGM Committee website – http://www.transportforgreatermanchestercommittee.gov.uk/downloads/file/4496/item_05_metrolink_service_performance.
This latest report looks at periods 5 and 6 which are between Monday 20th August and Sunday 14th October 2012.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

It’s another busy week on British Trams Online as we conclude our 10th anniversary updates and open the voting for Tram of the Year.

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Tram of the Year 2012: Voting Now Open!

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

A few weeks ago we opened nominations for the Tram of the Year 2012 contest and after a couple of weeks we have now come up with a shortlist for this year’s contest – except it’s not very short and we have also come up with a couple of new categories: “Event of
the Year” and “Tramway of the Year”.

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Picture in Time 2: Trams outside at Carlton Colville

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

2012 will probably – hopefully! – go down as the year when the most trams were stored outside as groups and societies sought to find locations to put their acquisitions from the Blackpool Tramway. We have all seen from the fate of Blackpool Centenary 646 how precarious the storage of trams outside is but it is not a new phenomenon and it doesn’t necessarily mean the tram has no future as these images from the East Anglia Transport Museum show.

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Another M5000 arrives as one more enters service

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

There has been more movement on the M5000 front on Manchester Metrolink recently with 3061 becoming the latest vehicle to arrive on Saturday 1st December. Meanwhile 40 of the fleet are now available for service with 3036 the latest to carry passengers. Non-commissioned for passenger service members of the fleet also see fairly regular use on testing and driver training duties on the Oldham and Rochdale line beyond Oldham Mumps and also the East Manchester Line to Droylsden.

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Aberdeen tram set for restoration?

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

One of the many regrets of tramway preservation has been the lack of an Aberdeen electric tram being saved for posterity but all this could be about to change with the apparent discovery of one of the trams, in use as the basis of a house off Wellington Road in the
City. The house is now boarded up and the area has apparently recently been sold for redevelopment so now could be the last chance to save the remains of this tram and to restore it to a presentable state.

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Posted in General | 17 Comments

Cable fault causes problems for Metrolink

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

Long suffering passengers on Manchester Metrolink have had to endure another morning of delays after a communications cable fault on Thursday 6th December 2012 saw major
disruption to services in the Altrincham area. The fault was first discovered shortly before the main morning rush hour started and meant that the public address system, card readers and signals were unable to function correctly. Technicians were despatched to the scene to fix the problem but this was not done before the severe delays were experienced. Once it was repaired trams were able to resume operating in time for the rush hour but knock on delays were still being experienced several hours later with trams and crews in the wrong place at the wrong time. Normal services were resumed during the afternoon.

Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 1 Comment

Park and Ride system introduced in Blackpool

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

The use of the Blackpool Tramway as a key part of the transport network on the Fylde Coast has been shown again this week with the introduction of a new Park and Ride system which enables users to park their cars on the fringes of the town centre and then travel into Blackpool by tram – and all for the reduced price of £5 for a family (plus 20p
for parking).

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 3 Comments

Crich Stephenson Workshop project wins national award

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

The project to restore the historic stone workshop at the Crich Tramway Village to bring it back to life and to play a useful role has been rewarded with an award at the 2012 LABC National Building Excellence Awards. The workshop – originally built in 1841 and used as
a smithy  and wagon works for Stephenson’s one-metre gauge mineral railway to transport limestone – was restored partly thanks to Lottery funding and has now become a learning centre and extra exhibition area.

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Car and tram involved in collision

Posted on Sunday 9 December 2012 by Gareth Prior

A car was struck by a tram at a crossing on London Tramlink near to New Addington on Sunday 2nd December with the driver of the car having to be cut free from his vehicle and taken by air ambulance to hospital. The incident happened at approximately 1430 when the car drove across the tracks at Lodge Road before being struck by a tram. An eye witness in the car claimed that when they started to drive across the tramway the lights were green and an investigation is now being undertaken to determine what caused the
accident. As well as the driver of the car, four people on board the tram suffered injuries.

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