Councillors promise “Fleetwood will be ready for trams”!

Posted on Thursday 22 March 2012 by admin

With concerns being raised about upgrading work on the Blackpool and Fleetwood
tramway, various councillors seem to have become sufficiently worried about negative comments to release statements to the press regarding the project and what their current expectations are. The full tramway was expected to re-open from 6th April, which would give passengers the chance of a tram ride all the way from Starr Gate to Fleetwood Ferry and back for the first time since September 2009 – but delays at the northern end of the line could scupper this plan.

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Blow for Southampton’s Aeronautica Museum plan?

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Plans for an £8 million museum dedicated to the transport heritage of Southampton have
been dealt a blow with the news that Associated British Ports (ABP) – owners of Southampton Docks – were withdrawing their offer of a long term lease because of proposed redevelopment in the dock area. The museum plans included the potential for an operational tramway along the dockside with two Southampton trams – 11 and 38 – moved to the site last year in advance of the proposed development.

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Work on NET Phase Two to start

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Work to extend the Nottingham Express Transit system is to start on University
Boulevard on Monday 30th January with the clearance of vegetation and trees from the route of line three which will serve Chilwell via Beeston.

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DLR staff to get up to £2,500 Olympic Bonus

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

It has been announced that staff on the Docklands Light Railway could get a bonus of
up to £2,500 for working during the London Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer – including £900 for just turning up to work!

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Tram driving experience up for auction

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

In an imaginative move to try and raise extra money to fund the construction of a new
tram depot in which to house their growing collection of trams, the Heaton Park Tramway have turned to the popular Internet auction site eBay. A ‘Tram Driving Experience’ course on Blackpool Brush car 623 is being offered for sale, with a starting price of £110 being set.

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Old & new trams on Blackpool prom

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Apart from the departure of several redundant trams for pastures new, there hasn’t been a great deal of interest on the Blackpool tramway so far in 2012, with work to upgrade the system to modern standards now nearing completion. Vehicle interest has usually been confined to the new Flexity2 trams, which have become an increasingly common sight on the tramway between Starr Gate and Bispham as the training of drivers on the new rolling stock steps up.

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Two Brush cars to become one

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The subject of which Blackpool trams would be acquired by the Tramway Museum
Society for display and possible operation at the National Tramway Museum, has been a very controversial topic amongst tram enthusiasts for quite some time. Even as late as last November, when the TMS finally announced which trams it had accepted for its collection, there was still considerable doubt about why various cars had been chosen and others rejected. Now, for the first time, the Society has broken its silence regarding the reasons for acquiring the most controversial of its new additions – Blackpool Brush Railcoach 630.

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Rocket tram may return to service

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Plans are afoot for one of Blackpool’s most popular trams to return to action following a
decade of storage – the illuminated Rocket 732. Blackpool Tourism Councillor Graham Cain is keen that this iconic tram should be able to play some part in the centenary of the Blackpool illuminations later this year, and discussions regarding how this could become a reality have now begun.

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Brighter future for Blackpool’s historic trams?

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

An important step has been made in assuring the future survival and operation of
heritage trams in Blackpool, with plans afoot to ensure that those trams that have been lucky enough to be retained by Blackpool Transport will be used to their full potential in the years ahead. This welcome news comes in the wake of speculation that some of the old fleet may be forced to play a key role in running the core tram service during 2012, with certain aspects of the tramway upgrade falling way behind schedule.

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Crich tram fleet update

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Despite Crich Tramway Village being closed for the winter period, work on several
members of the tram fleet there has continued, whilst behind the scenes, plans are being made for one of the collection to have a short spell away from Derbyshire later on in the year. Work is also being carried out on the tramway permanent way and a number of other projects, both large and small, to ensure that the site is ready for the first visitors of 2012 next month.

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Brush car 623 makes history at Heaton Park

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

It’s not every day that a type of tram which has operated successfully for more than
seventy years makes its preservation debut – but that’s exactly what happened on Sunday 22nd January 2012, when Blackpool 623 became the first Brush Railcoach to operate in passenger service away from the Fylde coast. This car has of course become the latest addition to the operating tram fleet at Heaton Park in Manchester, having been sold to the Manchester Transport Museum Society in early 2010 and moved to the park last November following a period of storage at Trafford Park.

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Another week of woe for Metrolink passengers

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

2012 has not exactly got off to a good start for Manchester Metrolink with a number of
tram breakdowns and points failures causing delays and disruption for passengers – all this hot on the heels of fare rises. With the anger of passengers starting to reach high levels with these continued problems, Transport for Greater Manchester have even gone so far as releasing statements apologising for what they describe as “unacceptable” delays.

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Transport Minister visits Nottingham to celebrate go-ahead of NET Phase Two

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Norman Baker MP – Transport Minister – visited Nottingham this week to congratulate
the city on getting the go-ahead to construct phase two of Nottingham Express Transit and also to talk about the economic growth, inward investment and job creation that it will bring to the local economy.

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More disputes with Bilfinger Berger over Edinburgh Tram project

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

In the latest update on the progress being made by the Edinburgh Tram project it has been revealed that since work recommenced on construction, six further disputes have emerged with contractors Bilfinger Berger – although the Council have not objected to any of these.

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Another Olympic test timetable for DLR on Saturday 4th February

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Following on from earlier this month when the Docklands Light Railway had a trial timetable for the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games they will be repeating the exercise on Saturday 4th February, although a slightly revised timetable will be running on this day.

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Minor Tramlink delays after lorry blocks tram lines

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

There were delays on London Tramlink services during the morning rush hour on Tuesday 17th January after a beer delivery truck was found to be blocking the tracks. Services were suspended on the central Croydon loop (with trams from Wimbledon terminating at Reeves Corner and services from Beckenham Junction, Elmers End and New Addington forced to terminate at East Croydon) for around 40 minutes from approximately 0815 with severe delays experienced following that as the full service was reformed.

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Life’s one long holiday for Centenary 645

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The latest tram to be moved away from the Blackpool tramway was Centenary car 645 which left Rigby Road early on Thursday 19th January. The tram followed a familiar pattern of being loaded up onto a Scott’s Heavy Haulage low loader the previous afternoon, ready for a very early departure. It was then taken to its new home in Little Singleton following purchase by the Windy Harbour Caravan Park – which is owned by the same company as the Broadwater Caravan Park, the new home of sister car 643.

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Paul Gaunt tram moved to Paul Gaunt premises!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Blackpool Centenary car 646 became the fourth of its class to leave Rigby Road depot for good in the early hours of Wednesday 18th January 2012. Its road journey was the shortest of any of the recently departed Blackpool cars, as it moved to the warehouse premises of furnishing company Paul Gaunt – the firm who have advertised on the tram since July 2002 in a number of different designs.

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Crich commissioning programme begins

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The annual process of preparing the operational tram fleet at Crich Tramway Village for another year of use has begun, with three trams having already visited the workshop to be commissioned for service in 2012. This process mainly consists of drying out the tramcar motors – a necessary procedure due to the lack of pits and the problem of condensation in the Museum’s depots – and other general maintenance and inspection of mechanical parts, to ensure that all of the trams are able to safely carry visitors to the attraction.

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Twin car set for Fleetwood

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The disbanding of Blackpool’s historic fleet of trams has continued to progress this week, with Twin set 673+683 becoming the latest member of the fleet to leave Rigby Road for the final time. This particular Twin car last operated during the 2010 illuminations, and was then stored in a fully serviceable condition until last week, when the duo were uncoupled and 673 duly spent the weekend in the Electrical Compound for its pantograph
and tower to be removed prior to its road journey.

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