All change in Edinburgh as Labour and SNP coalition takes control of Council

Posted on Saturday 12 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

Following the recent elections the City of Edinburgh Council will now be in the hands of
a Labour/Scottish Nationalist Party coalition with the Liberal Democrats the big losers. As a result in this shift of power all hopes of extending the “half a line” currently being constructed for eventual – and long awaited – opening in 2014 have been put on the backburner with the new Council leader, Cllr Andrew Burns from Labour, saying any further lines will not be looked at until 2017 at the earliest.

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Extra early morning Half Marathon trams for Supertram

Posted on Saturday 12 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

As a result of customer feedback, Stagecoach Supertram are going to run extra early morning services on Sunday 27th May for runners attending the Sheffield Half Marathon. With the race starting from the Don Valley Stadium extra trams will be laid on from just after 0600 on the Yellow, Purple and Blue routes. This will include a service from Halfway to the Don Valley Stadium at 0612 – normally Blue route trams do not travel to the
Stadium. Full details on the extra services can be found at http://www.supertram.net/uploads/HalfMarathontramtimetable270511.pdf.

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Book Review: Tracks and Trackless – Chesterfield’s Trams and Trolleybuses by Barry M Marsden

Posted on Saturday 12 May 2012 by Andrew Waddington

This book is a collection of photographs illustrating the trams and trolleybuses which operated in the town of Chesterfield, including many extremely valuable images which have been gathered together as the result of years of painstaking research. The author does not aim to give a comprehensive history of the town’s transport, but shows the variety of trams and trolleybuses that ran there in a range of different locations. Informative captions provide a good enough background to the system for those with a casual interest, and it reminds me of the excellent Middleton Press series.

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All change at Crich with more tram launches

Posted on Sunday 6 May 2012 by Andrew Waddington

As has been widely reported recently, the Crich Tramway Village operating fleet is set to increase by one this month, as Blackpool Brush Railcoach 630 is due to be launched into passenger service at a specical Brush car themed event on Saturday 12th May. A full preview of the event can be found elsewhere on this website, but of course 630 is not the only new addition to the fleet for 2012…

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Bank Holiday brings more firsts in Blackpool

Posted on Sunday 6 May 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The May Day Bank Holiday weekend is traditionally the time when the Fylde Tramway Society host their annual Convention weekend, with a series of entertaining events for Society members as well as their Annual General Meeting. Although due to a lack of platform staff, Blackpool Transport were unable to offer tram tours as part of this year’s package, there has been plenty of excitement on the tramway to compensate for this.

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Boat 600’s naked ambition

Posted on Sunday 6 May 2012 by Andrew Waddington

After an extremely rare winter appearance on February 29th, when it ran on test as far north as Thornton Gate, Blackpool Boat car 600 finally recorded its first normal passenger use on Saturday 5th May when it debuted on Blackpool Transport’s new heritage tram tours. With poor weather for much of April, this had been the first opportunity to use 600 on the new service and although the day wasn’t exactly warm, bright sunshine brought the tram onto promenade and it ran succesfully all day.

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Improvements to Blackpool’s heritage tram tours

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Blackpool Transport have announced a few minor amendments to the heritage tram service being operated between Pleasure Beach and Little Bispham this season. The changes have been introduced following initial feedback from customers, and will hopefully encourage more people to take a ride on a vintage tram.

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Preferred bidders named for Metro extension with work planned to start early 2013

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

Balfour Beatty – the UK’s largest infrastructure group – have been named as the preferred bidder to build the extension of Midland Metro through Birmingham City Centre between Snow Hill and New Street stations. At the same time as announcing this Centro also revealed that they hope major construction work will commence early in 2013 with the line open in 2015.

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Over £11 million to be pumped into local Nottingham economy as result of NET Phase Two

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

Tramlink Nottingham – the consortium charged with constructing and operating the newly extended Nottingham Express Transit – have claimed that the local economy is going to benefit to the tune of £11 million as a result of the work. They claim that the project is creating an increasing number of business opportunities for local companies through a variety of sub-contracts.

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Over 4,000 people enjoy the Beamish Model Tramway Exhibition

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

Whilst a large number of visitors to Beamish, the Living Museum of the North were enjoying their full sized counterparts there was the first model tram exhibition for a number of years taking place on the third and fourth day of the Great North Steam Fair. Partly thanks to the slightly inclement weather outside just over 4,000 visitors were recorded as visiting the exhibition on 14th and 15th April.

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New joint bus and tram ticket to be launched in Nottingham

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit have teamed up with local bus company Premiere Travel to offer a new ticket valid on both the tram and Premiere’s Red 8 bus service. The “Change to Tram” ticket will allow all-day travel on the tram for passengers using the Red 8 service which links with NET at Moor Bridge.

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Civil engineers claim Edinburgh Tram project more out of control than ever

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

A group of civil engineers have written to City of Edinburgh Council Chief Executive Sue Bruce warning her that in their opinion the project is even more out of control now than it was when tie were in charge. The four civil engineers are led by John Carson, former head of maintenance at Network Rail, who has been very vocal in the past about his anti-tram views so whether those ideas have led them to this conclusion is not known.

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Judicial review launched to reverse Lauderdale Avenue crossing closure

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

Just when you thought residents and Councillors near to the Lauderdale Avenue crossing in Cleveleys had accepted the inevitable regarding its closure comes the news that they are now seeking a Judicial Review on actions leading up to the closure. As has been reported in depth previously it was decided to close this crossing, along with a number of others on the stretch of the Blackpool Tramway between Little Bispham and Fleetwood, to help speed up the tram service and to reduce the potential for accidents.

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DLR services suspended after communications fault

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

The complete Docklands Light Railway was suspended during the morning of Wednesday 2nd May following a communications failure. This meant that no services at all were able to operate whilst the problem was solved with passengers advised to find alternative means
to reach their destination. The complete service suspension only lasted for a limited time during the morning rush hour but the section between Bank and Shadwell was suspended for longer whilst the issue was fixed. Tickets were being accepted by London Underground, local buses, Southeastern and C2C via any reasonable route.

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Lyme Bay Passport launched

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

Seaton Tramway have teamed up with two other local attractions – Pecorama and The Donkey Sanctuary – to launch a new initiative – The Lyme Bay Passport. This will include free entry tickets and restaurant treats to all three attractions and will be produced on purchase of a ticket at Pecorama and Seaton Tramway or when spending over £5 in The Donkey Sanctuary’s shop.

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Sunday service for NET on Bank Holiday Monday

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit will be running a Sunday service on Bank Holiday Monday 7th
May with trams in service until 2300.

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Event Preview: Launch of Blackpool Brush 630 at Crich Tramway Village

Posted on Thursday 3 May 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Event: Launch of Blackpool Brush 630

Where: Crich Tramway Village

When: Saturday 12th May

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NEETT announce future plans and partnerships

Posted on Wednesday 2 May 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Recently, we reported on plans by the North Eastern Electrical Traction Trust (NEETT) to develop a museum in the Sunderland area in which to house its growing vehicle collection, including trams from Blackpool and overseas. Thanks to this helpful organisation, British Trams Online can now bring readers further information about the plans to construct a building in which to store and display the NEETT collections, and the bonds being formed with other preservation groups.

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‘Trams of the World’ for Fleetwood tourist attraction?

Posted on Tuesday 1 May 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The Friends of Fleetwood Trams have recently announced more details about their long-term plans as part of a group of organisations and individuals, working under the banner of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust. The group aims to contribute significantly towards regenerating the small coastal town with a series of exciting projects to capitalise on Fleetwood’s heritage, in an aim to encourage more visitors to the northern end of the tramway, and have launched a new website explaining their aims.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 2 Comments

Box 40 returns to Fleetwood!

Posted on Monday 30 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

In just a few short weeks, there have been some great surprises on the Blackpool tramway already in 2012 – but quite possibly the highlight of the year so far occured on Monday 30th April, when Blackpool & Fleetwood ‘Box’ car 40 performed a private hire which took the 98-year old tram to Fleetwood Ferry for the first time since November 2009!

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 3 Comments