All change for Blackpool lights switch-on

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

One of the busiest days of the year in Blackpool could be under threat, as it has been announced that for the first time ever, visitors to the annual illuminations switch-on ceremony will have to pay to attend the event. This special occasion has always been a big boost but this plan could well put off many potential visitors in the future.

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Centenary car may stay in Blackpool

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The future of Blackpool Centenary car 648 was thrown into doubt in November this year, when the Tramway Museum Society announced that they had gone back on their original plan to acquire this tram for preservation at the National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire. This led to fears for 648‘s long-term future, but if the latest rumours are to be believed, the car may actually be set to remain on the Fylde coast after all!

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Blackpool bids farewell to 15 trams during 2011!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

With 2011 almost at an end, it seems an appropriate time to review the major changes that have affected the Blackpool tram fleet during the past twelve months. The dispersal of the historic cars has continued, with no less than 15 trams having left Blackpool for pastures new this year. 12 of these had been sold or given away by Blackpool Transport having been declared surplus to requirements, a further two were moved elsewhere after being on long-term loan to the company, and one tram left after visiting for the 125th anniversary celebrations of 2010.

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Thornton Gate site approved for LTT museum

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Christmas came early for the Lancastrian Transport Trust this year, when on December 23rd, the Trust were presented with an offer of lease for the Thornton Gate permanent way yard, adjacent to the Blackpool tramway. The LTT have long aspired to develop this site as a permanent home for its large collection of local buses and trams, and this has now taken a big step forward towards becoming a reality.

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Blow for Birkenhead Tramway as Wirral Council say no to re-opening

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society have been dealt another devastating blow with the news that they will not be able to reopen the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway in early 2012 after all. They had been led to believe by official from Wirral Council that the situation following the retirement of an electrical engineer had been resolved which would enable them to reopen but it has now been confirmed this is not the case and that they will
have to remain closed for the foreseeable future.

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Conductors to go within 18 months following Tramlink Nottingham takeover

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

In an interview published at http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Conductors-smartcards-new-tram-company/story-14198669-detail/story.html, the Chairman of the Tramlink Nottingham consortium, Roger Harrison, has confirmed that the firm are planning to remove conductors from the trams within 18 months along with the introduction of an Oyster card type of smart ticketing.

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New information campaign launched to make Tramlink safer

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Transport for London have launched a new information campaign in a bid to make London Tramlink safer which will see brightly coloured images of bunches of flowers painted in the ground at 15 spots in Croydon town centre! The idea is that those people who are staring at their mobile phones or generally not looking where they are going will see these brightly coloured images and not wander into the path of oncoming trams.

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Birkenhead Welcomes Santa!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

More bad news may have been received about the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway since but it was all systems go again on the Wirral on Saturday 17th December when the tramway reopened for their Santa Specials. Two trams were in operation on this day with Wallasey 78 used on the Santa Specials whilst current “Tram of the Year” Liverpool 762 was in use on public service (with a number of enthusiasts keen to sample the delights of a Saturday tram ride in the north west once again).

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Jobs advertised for NET Phase Two construction

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

No sooner had final sign off for phase two of Nottingham Express Transit been confirmed then the first jobs for the construction of the new lines to Clifton and Chilwell were being advertised. The 70 new jobs are being recruited through Nottingham City Council’s Employer Hub which matches the needs of recruiters to the skills of local unemployed people.

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Vandalism causes Metrolink service suspension

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Services on the Altrincham, Eccles and St Werburgh’s Road lines of Manchester Metrolink were suspended during the morning of Monday 19th December after vandalism caused a signal failure. The lineside equipment was vandalised near to Cornbrook which led to the service being suspended whilst repairs were undertaken. Passengers were advised they could catch local bus services instead before repairs meant a service could start to be reformed by mid-morning.

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New Supertram Managing Director named

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Margaret Kay has been confirmed as the new Managing Director of Stagecoach Supertram. Ms Kay was formerly the Human Resources Director at Supertram and is said to be “delighted to be leading the team” and will look to improve standards of the service.

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Pat Armstrong to retire

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Pat Armstrong – the director of Nottingham’s tram network and who has been involved in the project since the beginning – is to retire from his role early next year, Mr Armstrong – who had the honour of the road leading to the Wilkinson Street depot being named after him – has said that the tram project has been exhausting but rewarding at the same time and has presumably decided following the final go-ahead for Phase Two that now was a good time to call it a day at Nottingham City Council.

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DLR & Tramlink services to be unaffected by Boxing Day Tube Strike

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The strike called by the ASLEF union on the London Underground network on Boxing Day will not affect the planned services on either the Docklands Light Railway or London Tramlink. The DLR still plan to operate their special Boxing Day service which will not see any trams operate between Bank/Tower Gateway and Poplar/West India Quay because of track and signalling works.

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January launch for Blackpool Brush car 623

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

2012 looks set to get off to an exciting start at the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester, with the announcement that Blackpool Brush Railcoach 623 is set to be launched into passenger service at the tramway on Sunday 22nd January.

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Sheffield 264 gets back on track!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Some excellent news comes from the Beamish Museum, where the project to expand the amount of covered accommodation to railed vehicles in the main tram & bus depot has been completed after a very short time in progress.

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A Brush car for Christmas

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The National Tramway Museum has received its latest gift from Blackpool Transport just in time for Christmas, in the shape of Blackpool Brush Railcoach 630. This tram became the latest to leave Rigby Road for good aboard a low loader on the morning of Wednesday 21st December, bound for its new home in Derbyshire.

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Goodbye Blackpool – Hello Merseyside!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

An extremely hectic time for the hard-working staff of Scott’s Heavy Haulage has continued with further trams being transported away from Blackpool this week. 19th & 20th December have seen Twin Set 671+681 and Brush Railcoach 625 depart, for a new life with Merseytravel.

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Heaton Park gets a white Christmas!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Sunday 18th December marked the end of another highly successful operating season for Manchester’s Heaton Park Tramway, with the final passenger services of 2011 operating in the park on this day. What could have been a fairly ordinary day was made interesting for two reasons: firstly, the visit of a group of enthusiasts for the day who had also visited Birkenhead the day before; and secondly, because of snow!

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A new era in news from British Trams Online!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

If you are reading this message, congratulations you have managed to find the all new British Trams Online News page! This new look page really is a new era for news on this website as it will now enable the news to be updated on a daily basis if required by any member of the BTO team. The downside of this new look page is that we lose our unique design and now have a standard blog design of which you will probably recognise from countless other websites but we think that is a small price to pay to enable us to bring you UK tram and light rail news as soon as it happens!

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Trams start testing in Edinburgh

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Monday 12th December 2011 – mark that date in your diary for that was the day when finally the first of the new breed of Edinburgh Trams ran under their own power in the Scottish capital. The test runs were undertaken on the short 500 metre test track just outside of Gogar Depot and is probably the most significant milestone in the project yet.

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