Testing & Driver Training commences on East Manchester Line

Posted on Saturday 13 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

Following hot on the heels from our story last week about initial testing on the South Manchester Line, testing has now recommenced on the East Manchester Line to Droylsden with driver training due to start by the end of the month as preparations continue before the line opens to the public – hopefully by the end of this year.

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Lost Trams 6: Leeds Feltham 526

Posted on Saturday 13 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

We head back across the pond for the latest instalment of our “Lost Trams” series as we take a look at Leeds Feltham 526 which has been in the United States for over 50 years since it was exported in 1960 after withdrawal from its second tram system in the UK. Jamie Guest from the Leeds Transport Historical Society provides us with a look at the tram.

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Zonal pricing on the cards for Metrolink?

Posted on Saturday 13 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

It has been reported that Transport for Greater Manchester are considering introducing a zonal fare system for Manchester Metrolink as they believe this would be a more transparent scheme than that used at present. The idea was due to be discussed at a recent TfGM Committee meeting which would also set the fare rise due to be introduced in January 2013.

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Edinburgh Trams release latest photo update

Posted on Saturday 13 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

The latest photo update from Edinburgh Trams was released this week showing recent progress across the line which will link the Airport with the City Centre, and finally these updates are starting to actually show some tangible progress.

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Metrolink Service Performance Update

Posted on Saturday 13 October 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/4456/item_05_metrolink_performance.
This latest report only looks at the one period and that is period 4 between Monday 23rd July and Sunday 19th August 2012.

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Supertram 116 involved in collision

Posted on Saturday 13 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

Sheffield has become the latest UK tram system to see a road vehicle strike a tram with 116 – in its Genting Club all over advert – being involved in a collision with a small van on Thursday 4th October. The incident happened at Staniforth Road crossing on the Yellow route towards Meadowhall and saw major damage to the van with the driver of the van
suffering injuries. As for the tram? Well it was back in service the following day!

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Birkenhead tramway closes temporarily

Posted on Saturday 13 October 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Following last weekend’s succesful Wirral Bus & Tram Show, the Birkenhead heritage tramway is temporarily closed whilst new safety procedures are being introduced. Although recent inspection has determined that the tramway is operating safely, some new procedures need to be put in place and it may take a while for these to be fully implemented. In the meantime no tram service will operate, although the museum area at Taylor Street remains open to visitors. The re-opening of the tramway will be announced in due course.

Posted in Birkenhead Heritage Tramway | 5 Comments

New exhibition for Crich

Posted on Saturday 13 October 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The exhibition area within the Derby Assembly Rooms at Crich Tramway Village is currently being treated to a major revamp for the first time in many years. It was confirmed some months ago that this area would be refreshed following on from the refurbishment of the Great Exhibition Hall and the opening of the new George Stephenson Workshop & Discovery Centre, and this is now underway.

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Big book sale = big bucks for Crich

Posted on Saturday 13 October 2012 by Andrew Waddington

A sale of surplus books and journals from the Tramway Museum Society archives over the recent Crich enthusiast’s weekend on 15th & 16th September has been hailed a tremendous success, raising over £1,500 for the museum. Although similar book sales have been held before, this was the first ever two-day sale, which co-incided with the extremley succesful ‘Glasgow 50’ commemorative event.

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Blackpool Coronation 304 moves to Beamish

Posted on Friday 12 October 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The much-anticipated transfer of Blackpool Coronation car 304 from temporary storage in Marton, to Beamish Museum has finally taken place after a few delays which led to its planned passenger debut in the North East being postponed slightly. After being unceromoniously dumped in an industrial yard last month following its eviction from Rigby Road, 304 now looks set to return to the limelight in the next few weeks as it celebrates its sixtieth anniversary year.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway, Fylde Transport Trust | 4 Comments

In Pictures: Wirral Bus and Tram Show 2012

Posted on Wednesday 10 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

The annual Wirral Bus and Tram Show took place in Birkenhead on Sunday 7th October with plenty of visiting buses, bus trips around the Wirral and of course regular tram trips on the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway. This is often the best chance to see the main heritage tram fleet in operation and 2012 was no different with all four of the operational historic trams being used in service at some point during the day.

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In Pictures: London Tramlink Engineering Works

Posted on Monday 8 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

Services between Addington Village and New Addington were suspended on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th October for engineering works which concentrated on the replacement of pointwork at New Addington. All trams from Wimbledon were terminated at Addington Village with passengers advised to use onward normal bus services to reach their destination.

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In Pictures: Stagecoach Supertram Engineering Works Part 1

Posted on Monday 8 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

Recently the amount of engineering works on Stagecoach Supertram has started to  increase with some taking place on non Bank Holiday weekends with two recent occasions
seeing line closures to allow the replacement of track. The first of these was on Sunday 16th September when a section of track at Fitzalan Square was replaced which necessitated some trams running wrong line in the City Centre.

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Tests start on South Manchester Line to Didsbury

Posted on Sunday 7 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

Another significant milestone has been achieved on Manchester Metrolink with the start of a short period of testing on the South Manchester line beyond St Werburgh’s Road to East Didsbury. The first test run took place on Thursday 4th October and further periods of testing were expected for the remainder of that week.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 9 Comments

Light Rail Awards 2012 recognise excellence across the UK

Posted on Sunday 7 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

The now annual Light Rail Awards for 2012 took place in London on 3rd October with many of the UK’s light rail system being recognised for their achievements in the past
12 m nths, although once again it would appear that the winner of the coveted “Operator of the Year” wish to remain anonymous as no operator is claiming to have won it! However, both Manchester Metrolink and Nottingham Express Transit were celebrating with a joint award for “Project of the Year”.

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MER Winter Photography Event details confirmed

Posted on Sunday 7 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

On Saturday 3rd November a special winter photography event will be taking place on the Manx Electric Railway with the main focus being on Works Cars and Laxey. The main event of the day will be a scheduled Photo Tour utilising Crossbench Car 32 and Works Trailer 52 between Derby Castle and Ballaskeig including photo stops in both directions.

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Final 20 M5000s to have 8 extra seats

Posted on Sunday 7 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

Transport for Greater Manchester have revealed that the final 20 M5000s currently on order from Bombardier are going to have an extra eight seats each following passenger feedback. One of main complaints from passengers following the introduction of the M5000s was that they had a lot less seats than the T68s they are now going to replace and TfGM are hoping that these eight extra seats will help to please some passengers, although they will still have significantly less seats than the vehicles they are replacing.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 7 Comments

Edinburgh Trams to open six months early? No say Council!

Posted on Sunday 7 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

A report in The Scotsman has claimed that Edinburgh Trams could start operating six months “early” with the first trams running in public service by the end of 2013. However this story was quickly followed by a statement from the City of Edinburgh Council denying this and saying they remain on schedule to start operating by summer 2014.

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Oldham Metrolink line hailed a success

Posted on Sunday 7 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

Figures recently released have shown that the Metrolink extension through to Oldham Mumps has been a success with over 250,000 journeys made in the first three months. The line was finally opened on 13th June and sees a tram every 12 minutes from St Werburgh’s Road via the City Centre.

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RAIB release report into Midland Metro Overhead line collapse

Posted on Sunday 7 October 2012 by Gareth Prior

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) have finally released their full report into the collapse of the overhead line near Jewellery Quarter on the Midland Metro system back on 20th April 2011. This was a major incident for the tramway with severe damage occurring to the overhead which required the service to be suspended completely until 24th April after which a limited service was operated until 28th April when normal services were
resumed. The outcomes of the investigation have not been able to fully determine quite why the overhead came to collapse although a number of possible theories have been ascertained and as is usual with these investigations a number of recommendations have been made to ensure occurrences like these can be avoided in the future.

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