NET to see slight disruption for Tour of Britain

Posted on Wednesday 5 September 2012 by Gareth Prior

There will be slight delays to services on Nottingham Express Transit on Monday 10th September to allow the Tour of Britain cycle race to make its way through the City Centre.
From 0950 for approximately 15 minutes no trams will be able to run between Royal Centre and Station Street. The race is expected to feature Olympic Gold medallist Bradley Wiggins alongside his team mate Mark Cavendish and as such it is likely that thousands of people will be in the City to watch the start of the race. Those who are going to watch are being urged to travel by tram as it is the easiest way to get to the action.

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Permanent Way Brush car leaves Rigby Road

Posted on Tuesday 4 September 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The Lancastrian Transport Trust have begun to remove their remaining trams from the Rigby Road tram depot in Blackpool, with former Permanent Way Brush car 259 becoming the first departure of the month on the afternoon of Tuesday 4th September. The sorry-looking tram was loaded up in the usual location alongside the Fitting Shop and duly headed for a temporary storage site.

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Boating by night in Blackpool

Posted on Tuesday 4 September 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Blackpool Boat car 600 became the first non-illuminated tram to work an evening heritage/illuminations tour during the new era of the tramway on Monday 3rd September. This followed on from speculation that only the three feature cars would operate on tours for the remainder of the season, and its appearance on this unusually warm night was certainly very welcome.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 10 Comments

50th Anniversary since the last Glasgow tram – it’s not all about Crich!

Posted on Tuesday 4 September 2012 by Gareth Prior

On 4th September 1962 it was the end of an era in Glasgow when the final tram route ran for the last time bringing to an end 90 years of tramway operation in Scotland’s second city. With this year being the 50th anniversary of this occasion a number of events are being celebrated to commemorate it with the most high profile one being at Crich Tramway Village over the weekend of 15th and 16th September.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum, Summerlee Museum Tramway | 1 Comment

Changes at the Department for Transport

Posted on Tuesday 4 September 2012 by Gareth Prior

Today saw a major cabinet reshuffle in the UK government and this included changes at the Department for Transport where the top job changed hands and a new face was also seen in the Junior Minister ranks.

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Metrolink delays after computer failure

Posted on Tuesday 4 September 2012 by Gareth Prior

The complete Manchester Metrolink network was suspended for a little over 30 minutes during the evening of Monday 3rd September after a server fault in the main control room. The fault was first reported at approximately 2030 leading to all trams being bought to a standstill in the nearest tramstop as it was not considered safe to continue operating whilst the computer system was down. Services resumed at 2110 after the problem was fixed.

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Supertram revise their scooter policy

Posted on Tuesday 4 September 2012 by Gareth Prior

As from Monday 1st October Stagecoach Supertram will be operating a new policy for the carriage of mobility scooters following a period of consultation. From this date they will
only be accepted for travel if the owner has a CPT permit for the scooter they are using. Any passenger who uses a wheelchair or electric wheelchair does not need one of these permits to travel and can continue as previously. More details on this new policy can be found on the Stagecoach Supertram website: http://www.supertram.net/latestfromsupertram_8091.html.

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Shandwick Place businesses to get business rates reduction

Posted on Monday 3 September 2012 by Gareth Prior

The Lothian Assessor has agreed to a proposal which will see a reduction in business rates for traders on Shandwick Place which is said to be as a result of work by the City of  Edinburgh Council’s Trams team to support businesses along the route of the tram.

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Welcome back to Bolton 66!

Posted on Monday 3 September 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Pleasing news from Blackpool concerns the ever-popular Bolton 66, which has recently returned to service following a lay-off. Hang on a moment… haven’t we run this story before!? Well, of course 66 missed the entire 2011 season due to not having transponders, which were subseuqently fitted over winter 2011/12 thanks to the disposal of many other trams. This enabled the car to return to use on Blackpool Transport’s new heritage coastal tours from Easter 2012.

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Big queues and big disapointments in Blackpool

Posted on Sunday 2 September 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The start of the 2012 illuminations has been a rather challenging time for the Blackpool tramway. This is of course, the first time that the illuminations have shone in the ‘new’ tramway era with Flexity2 LRVS providing the core service. As expected, crush loadings have been witnessed on the new trams with passenger numbers soaring on the first Saturday evening of the lights season.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 29 Comments

Tramcars transformed at Beamish

Posted on Saturday 1 September 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The 2012 ‘Power from the Past’ event at Beamish, the Living Museum of the North, has witnessed the unveiling of two familiar trams in very unfamiliar new colour schemes. As has been extensively reported here on British Trams Online, Oporto 196 has been treated to a heavy overhaul and a repaint in a South Sheilds inspired blue and yellow livery, whilst old favourite Gateshead 10 has regained its former identity as Grimsby & Immingham 26 in all-over green.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway | 2 Comments

Heaton Park Tramway grows – very slightly!

Posted on Saturday 1 September 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Preparations for the construction of a new tram depot at Manchester’s Heaton Park are now making good progress, with a short length of track laid connecting the current terminus adjacent to the park’s boating lake to the future depot site. This allowed Blackpool 623 to travel a little further than it had previously done on Tuesday 28th August, when it was used to test the newly laid track.

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In Pictures: Crich prepare for Glasgow 50 event

Posted on Thursday 30 August 2012 by Gareth Prior

As we reported earlier this week preparations for the eagerly anticipated Glasgow 50/Enthusiasts Tram Event at the Crich Tramway Village stepped up a gear last weekend with a significant amount of shunting to enable Glasgow 1115 to escape its usual home in the Exhibition Hall so it can play a role in the event which will take place at Crich on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th September. We can now bring you a selection of images from the shunting courtesy of Jack Gordon.

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Blackpool 626 returns to Pacific Road

Posted on Thursday 30 August 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The excitement surrounding Blackpool Brush car 626‘s expected entry into service at the Birkenhead tramway imminently has turned out to be nothing more than false hope, as the tram has now been returned to the Pacific Road building for continued storage. The tram had spent a few weeks at the tramway’s main running shed at Taylor Street for some remedial attention, which it was hoped would allow the car to run again shortly.

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Midland Metro first UK tram system to win safety award

Posted on Thursday 30 August 2012 by Gareth Prior

Midland Metro are celebrating after becoming the first tram network in the UK to win a prestigious award for passenger safety and crime reduction. All 23 stops on the line, which links Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton St Georges, have been given the Safer Tram Stop Award by the Secured by Design organisation and the Association of Chief Police Officers.

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Signal problems cause delays for Bury line

Posted on Thursday 30 August 2012 by Gareth Prior

There was more woe for anyone wanting to travel on Manchester Metrolink around  lunchtime on Wednesday 29th August as a signal failure at Queens Road caused disruption to the Bury and Oldham lines for around three hours. Initially no trams were able to run between Bury and the City Centre or from Oldham to Manchester Victoria although after a couple of hours some sort of service was able to be offered between Bury and Crumpsall and on the Oldham line. Eventually, some three hours after the first disruption was reported, a full tram service was reintroduced although delays were still experienced as the service was reformed. During the disruption passengers were advised to use their Metrolink tickets on local bus routes.

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Winson Green tramstop to be closed for maintenance works

Posted on Thursday 30 August 2012 by Gareth Prior

Because of essential maintenance works Winson Green tramstop on Midland Metro will be closed to the public after the last tram on Saturday 1st September and will not reopen until the start of service on Monday 3rd September. Midland Metro services will run as normal on Sunday 2nd September although there is a possibility that delays may be experienced and they will not be stopping at Winson Green.

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Static trams light up Blackpool promenade

Posted on Wednesday 29 August 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Tuesday 28th August provided the opportunity for an early preview of the 2012 illuminations spectacle in Blackpool. On this evening the promenade road was closed off to all vehicular traffic apart from bicycles, for the now annual ‘Ride The Lights’ event, and this also gave visitors and residents the chance to see both trams which are starring in this year’s display.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust, Fylde Transport Trust | 1 Comment

In Pictures: Stagecoach Supertram Engineering Works

Posted on Wednesday 29 August 2012 by Gareth Prior

Over the Sunday and Monday of the recent August Bank Holiday weekend there was track replacement work on Stagecoach Supertram as is so often the case on the network on bank holidays. This time the area being replaced was just beyond the Infirmary Road tramstop outbound for around 100 yards. The work was completed on time and normal services resumed in time for the start of the working week on Tuesday 28th August.

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Four wheels on my horse tram

Posted on Tuesday 28 August 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Another hugely significant milestone in the restoration of Leeds 107, the last surviving horse tramcar from the Yorkshire city, occured on Wednesday 22nd August, when the body and truck of the tram were finally united. This followed on from the delivery of the body to a new temporary home at the Middleton Railway seven days earlier, where its reconstruction will be completed in more spacious surroundings than were previously available.

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