13th Flexity arrives in Blackpool (eventually!)

Posted on Monday 30 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The numbers of the Flexity2 class in Blackpool have swelled again, with car 013 arriving in town late on Friday 27th April. Although the rumour mill had suggested that the tram had arrived some two weeks ago, this turned out to be false. The number 13 is of course considered unlucky by many people, and car 013 did little to disprove the theory as its arrival was delayed on two occasions due to a few unforseen events!

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Return of the Twin car!

Posted on Sunday 29 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

In what is probably the best piece of news involving the Blackpool tramway for quite some time, Twin set 672+682 has been moved into the Electrical Compound where it is being prepared for a return to service as one of the tramway’s heritage fleet! Even better, the duo are set to be repainted before entering service – AND it is also expected that fellow Twin set 675+685 will also be back in action on its native system later this year!

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Beamish and the “Big Three” or The Great North Steam Fair 2012

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

In the last few years, Beamish, the Living Museum of the North has become a ‘must-see’ destination for anyone with an interest in traditional British trams. The ambitious transport events held at this location have featured the trams in increasingly prominent roles, with vehicles from other museums joining the resident fleet for some unforgettable events. Two such events now take place annually, and the first for 2012 was the ‘Great North Steam Fair’, held over four days from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th April inclusive. As the title suggests, the main focus is a gathering of working steam vehicles of all shapes and sizes, but there is always plenty of interest in other areas and the tramway is no exception. Last year’s big draw was Manchester 765 from the Heaton Park Tramway, and this year it was the turn of the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society to steal the limelight with a guest appearance from the magnificent Birkenhead 20. Andrew Waddington reports.

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Centro formally sign contract with CAF for new trams

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

There has been further progress on the expansion and improvement of Midland Metro
this week with Centro and CAF formally signing contracts to provide up to 25 new trams. It had previously been announced that CAF were the preferred bidder for the new trams and this news now means the Spanish firm will be supplying the Urbos 3 trams to operate on Midland Metro from 2014.

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And then there were four! Variotram 2557 arrives in Croydon

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

The fourth of the Variotrams for Tramlink arrived at Therapia Lane Depot on Thursday 26th April at 2100 before being unloaded the following morning. The arrival of 2557 means that there are just two of the initial six tram order still to arrive in the UK with the first two, 2554 and 2555, having already been used in passenger service. It is still expected that a new Line 4 from Therapia Lane to Elmers End will be introduced in June.

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Further details revealed for Seaton Weekend Extravaganza in June

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

The programme of events for the Trains, Trams and Buses Gala Weekend on Saturday 23rd
and Sunday 24th June at the Seaton Tramway has now been revealed on their website. This event is a joint event between the tramway, the Yeovil Railway Centre and Pecorama with the main tramway highlight being the official launch of 8 in its new Bristol blue livery.

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More DLR Olympic test timetables to operate

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

As part of the continued preparations for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic
Games the Docklands Light Railway will be running revised services on Saturday
5th, Saturday 19th and Sunday 27th May and Sunday 3rd June. These services have been devised to “focus on Games venues and spectator demand” and as a result normal routes may either see no direct services or a reduced frequency so regular commuters have been advised to check before travelling.

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Another tram failure causes delays in Manchester

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

Unfortunately Manchester Metrolink made the headlines in the Manchester Evening News again this week with another tram failing and causing large delays. The tram failed at Victoria at around 1230 and according to the MEN this led to delays on all Metrolink lines (although it is unclear why a failure at Victoria would mean the Eccles and MediaCityUK lines suffered as well). TfGM did not mention that it was a T68 as they usually do so it could well be that a M5000 was to blame for the heavy delays. The day after the failure the same newspaper ran a story on the withdrawal of the first T68 as reported on this website last week.

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Bank Holiday? Must mean more Supertram engineering works!

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

It has been announced that this forthcoming May Day Bank Holiday will see further engineering works undertaken on Stagecoach Supertram to “ensure a smooth, safe and reliable ride for years to come.” This time the work will see track replacement at Shalesmoor which will mean there will be no trams between Cathedral and Middlewood or Malin Bridge on Sunday 6th and Monday 7th May.

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Amended Midland Metro service for May Day Bank Holiday

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

Trams on Midland Metro will run to an amended service on Bank Holiday Monday 7th
May. Services will run every 15 minutes starting from 0800 and finishing at 2300.

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Free Metrolink travel for Greater Manchester Marathon runners

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

Following in the footsteps of the Docklands Light Railway and the London Marathon, it has been announced that all runners taking part in the Greater Manchester Marathon will be able to travel on Metrolink for free. The race takes place on Sunday 29th April and all any of the 8,000 runners need do to get the free travel is to show their official race number on the day. The Greater Manchester Marathon will start and finish in Longford Park, Stretford with the two nearest Metrolink stops being Stretford on the Altrincham line and Firswood on the South Manchester line.

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Birkenhead 20 returns home

Posted on Thursday 26 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Following a highly succesful three-week stay at Beamish, the Living Museum of the North, Birkenhead 20 returned home to the Wirral heritage tramway on Wednesday 25th April. The tram had arrived at Beamish on March 30th to participate in the Great North Steam Fair, which was held between 12th & 15th April.

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Luff’s legacy lives on at Beamish

Posted on Tuesday 24 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

Following its public debut at the Great North Steam Fair event, Blackpool ‘Boat’ 233 was formally launched into service at Beamish Museum by its owners, the Lancastrian Transport Trust, at a brief ceremony on Sunday 22nd April. Unfortunately despite our involvement in the project, the British Trams Online team were unable to attend (we were all trammed out after the excitement of recent weeks!), but a very special guest attended to welcome the tram to its new home.

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Brush car 630 launch event confirmed

Posted on Monday 23 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

It is pleasing to announce that Blackpool Brush Railcoach 630 is set to be launched into passenger service at Crich Tramway Village on Saturday 12th May. The tram last ran at Blackpool in late October 2011 and was then withdrawn so that it could receive workshop attention, including a superb repaint in 1990s style Blackpool fleet livery, before moving to Derbyshire just before Christmas.

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Positive news for two Blackpool ‘Boat’ cars

Posted on Monday 23 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The eagerly anticipated move of Blackpool ‘Boat’ 236/607 to Crich Tramway Village took place as expected on Monday 23rd April, making it the second Boat car to leave Blackpool this year. Meanwhile, one of its sisters is being prepared for a comeback of its own – but whilst car 602 was expected to be next through the workshops at Blackpool, 604 has actually been chosen instead!

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The Balloons are back!

Posted on Sunday 22 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

So far the 2012 season in Blackpool has been dominated by the new Flexity2 trams and much older cars such as Bolton 66 and Standard 147; however a growing number of the retained Balloon cars have also been in service recently. As reported previously, flat-fronted car 724 started the ball rolling with an ill-fated outing on April 5th, and a few days later this was followed by car 713 which even managaed a journey to Fleetwood Ferry in service!

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‘Boat’ 236 prepares to set sail

Posted on Sunday 22 April 2012 by Andrew Waddington

The restoration of Blackpool ‘Boat’ car 236 (ex-607) is now virtually complete, and the tram is currently being prepared to leave Blackpool for a new home at Crich Tramway Village on Monday 23rd April. Following some succesful test runs on Hopton Road a few days ago, the tram was moved into the Electrical Compound on Saturday 21st April where its trolley tower will be removed. The low loader used to move Standard 143 has remained in Blackpool and will be used to transport 236 to its new home.

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Another milestone in NET Phase Two works

Posted on Sunday 22 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

Work has begun on constructing a new bridge over Nottingham railway station which will carry Phase Two of Nottingham Express Transit to Clifton via Wilford and Chilwell via Beeston. The first stage of work – which will see a pier constructed on Station Street to support the bridge – started on Tuesday 10th April.

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Edinburgh Council claim trams could be running early!

Posted on Sunday 22 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

Just as well we aren’t uploading this story a few weeks ago or you probably wouldn’t
believe us, but the City of Edinburgh Council are now claiming that the project is running ahead of schedule (well the revised, revised, revised schedule anyway) and trams might be running by the end of 2013 rather than in 2014. It probably goes without saying but we will say it anyway – opposition Councillors in the City have met this idea with derision suggesting there is no chance of this happening.

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Variotram 2555 enters passenger service

Posted on Sunday 22 April 2012 by Gareth Prior

The second of the Variotrams being built for London Tramlink has entered passenger
service. 2555 was used in service for the first time on Thursday 12th April running from Therapia Lane to East Croydon and then two circuits of the town loop before returning to
Therapia Lane.

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