Contracts signed, it’s full steam ahead with NET Phase Two!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Following the final Government sign off of Phase Two of Nottingham Express Transit, contracts have been signed between Nottingham City Council and Tramlink Nottingham. As a result Tramlink Nottingham took on the concession for operation of the current system from Friday 16th December and they will also be in charge of the contract to build and operate the extended phase two section of NET. This also means that the previously announced changes to ticketing on the trams has come into effect, although there is some leeway on pre-purchased tickets.

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Gateshead 52 to get a new home?

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The Tramway Museum Society has confirmed that discussions have been taking place in regard of the long-term future of Gateshead 52. A proposal has been made to offer the remains of this tramcar to the Beamish Museum, subject to final agreement by members of the TMS.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway, National Tramway Museum | 2 Comments

Early Christmas Present! Birkenhead Tramway to reopen fully in January

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Some good news has been received from the Wirral with an announcement that the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway is to reopen from Saturday 7th January 2012. As you may remember the tramway had been forced to close (with the exception of Santa Specials on Saturday 17th December) from the end of October because of the retirement of the Council’s electrical engineer who was not being replaced. Thankfully this staffing issue has now been resolved and the tramway is free to open again from the first Saturday in January.

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678 (Radio) Waves goodbye to Blackpool!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

On Wednesday 14th December, another tram left Blackpool for a new temporary home at the nearby town of Fleetwood. The fourth car to depart for storage in Fleetwood was Ex-Towing Railcoach 678, which duly became the fourth tram to leave following acquisition by the Friends of Fleetwood Trams, and also the first single-deck car to leave Blackpool since Manchester 765 in April!

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Brush Cars 621 & 627 sent to jail

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Hot on the heels of Ex-Towing Railcoach 678 came the departure of two more much-loved Blackpool trams which have been acquired for preservation by the Friends of Fleetwood Trams. The cars in question were both Brush Railcoaches of particular historical significance: cars 621 and 627.

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Brush 630 repaint completed

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The repaint of Brush 630 into the 1990s Green and Cream fleet livery by Blackpool Transport on behalf of the trams new owners – the Tramway Museum Society – has been completed with a move for the tram likely to be imminent.

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Another Flexity2 turns up in Blackpool

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

There are now four of the Flexity2 trams in Blackpool following the arrival of another one during Friday 16th December. Once again it has arrived with no obvious identification of what its number is although a piece of paper in the cab has the number 2 on it and so it has been presumed to be 002.

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New timetable for Midland Metro from 3rd January 2012

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

A revised timetable is to be introduced on Midland Metro from Tuesday 3rd January 2012 which, it is hoped, will help to provide extra capacity at peak periods with the introduction of a new service from Wednesbury Parkway to Birmingham Snow Hill and return during the morning peak.

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The excitement keeps coming at Beamish!

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Firstly, the project to increase the amount of covered accommodation available to the tram fleet at Beamish is rapidly approaching completion – amazingly, just a few weeks after work began! New rails have been laid in gaps cut in the depot floor, and all that remains to be finished is now the pouring of some concrete to tidy up the floor space. This work is expected to be carried out in the next week, and then the fourth depot track will be available to occupy. Two trams are expected to benefit from this in the very near future;
Sheffield 264, which has been stored ‘off the rails’ for just over a year, and is stored awaiting a major overhaul, and Leeds 6 which has spent much of 2011 stored outside the shed. This particular car is of course on loan from the Heaton Park Tramway and remains in regular service on the tramway at Beamish, which will presumably be the case until the new depot at Heaton Park is constructed.

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Gogar Depot handed over to Edinburgh Council

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Another major milestone in the much delayed Edinburgh Trams project has been achieved with the handover of the Gogar Depot and Control Centre to the City of Edinburgh Council. The depot is already fully electrified and as reported elsewhere on this site testing has commenced using the trams already delivered.

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Midland Metro fares up from January

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

As well as a revised timetable (see other story) the new year will see a revised fare structure on Midland Metro with increases in line with inflation. The reason Midland Metro have given for these increases are rising business costs. Adult singles will increase by 10p, Day Returns by 20p-30p and Metro cards by £1 per week.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 2 Comments

DLR to try out Olympic Timetable in early 2012

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The build up to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games has been continuing in recent weeks with a number of test events at various venues which will be holding the events next summer and the Docklands Light Railway is not to be left out as they will be testing their special Olympic and Paralympic timetable on two Saturdays in early 2012. The two dates will be Saturday 14th January and Saturday 4th February 2012 and will see some routes and
frequencies changed with first and last train times also altered.

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In Pictures: Snow falls in Croydon

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

A light flurry of snow fell in Croydon during the morning of Friday 16th December causing no adverse effect to services on the Tramlink network. What follows is a small selection of photos from the day taken by Ian Buck.

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TFGM propose to change Audenshaw Tram Lane plans

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Following on from last week’s protests regarding the proposed raised tram lane in Audenshaw, Transport for Greater Manchester have now released revised plans for the area which will no longer see this dedicated tram lane raised above the height of the normal road surface.

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Tramlink hit by heavy traffic causing delays

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

It wasn’t meant to be like this was it? London Tramlink have suffered delays on two consecutive evenings in Croydon town centre because of heavy traffic meaning the trams were unable to get through the Croydon loop which lead to the suspension of tram services between East Croydon and Reeves Corner – trams from New Addington, Beckenham Junction and Elmers End were terminated at East Croydon whilst services from Wimbledon were ended at Reeves Corner. The heavy traffic was said to be in the Church Street area on both Thursday 15th and Friday 16th December and was said to be down to people Christmas shopping. Unfortunately it would appear that Transport for London took the easy option by suspending services rather than ensuring that the trams could get through the middle of Croydon – it doesn’t exactly put the case forward for extensions of the network when it can’t cope with a bit of extra traffic does it?

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UN Environmental Committee to look at Edinburgh Tram impact

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

It’s been a rare week of good news for the Edinburgh Trams project but rather inevitably it hasn’t all been good as it has been confirmed that a United Nations committee is to look at the environmental impact the construction of the line is having on local roads. Residents in New Town have been campaigning against the line saying that traffic is being moved from the main routes to more minor roads in their area which is causing more pollution
and noise and they claim the Council are not taking their complaint seriously.

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Bowker Vale Metrolink stop improvements

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The ongoing improvements to Metrolink stops on the Bury line has moved on to Bowker Vale which means there will be restricted access between 12th and 23rd December 2011 and 3rd to 20th January 2012. The ramp to the Manchester bound platform from Middleton Road will be closed for intervals between 0900 and 1630 during these periods with passengers advised to use the Bury bound platform and then use the footbridge. Anyone who requires step free access is advised to catch a tram towards Bury alighting at either Prestwich or Besses o’ th’ Barn before returning in the direction you actually wanted to travel.

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Tragic death of blind man in Manchester City Centre

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

Gary Thompson, a 33 year old blind man, has tragically died after getting trapped between a platform and tram at St Peter’s Square tramstop in Manchester City Centre. It is believed Mr Thompson either stepped off the platform or slipped from the platform edge just as a tram was approaching the stop and he became trapped between the two. Despite the emergency services attending he was declared dead at the scene. The incident happened at approximately 2305 on Thursday 15th December and an investigation has been launched by the RAIB.

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Woman hit by tram in Sheffield City Centre

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

A woman was hit by a tram near to the Cathedral tramstop in Sheffield City Centre on Saturday 10th December at around 1115. The incident happened when there were large crowds of people around Christmas shopping and it has been reported that the weather was icy at the time although it is not confirmed whether that played a part in the incident. South Yorkshire Police have started an investigation into what caused the accident. Tram services were suspended through the area whilst the woman was treated and the investigation into the causes was undertaken.

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LTT acquire 671 in their latest tram swap scheme

Posted on Wednesday 21 March 2012 by admin

The Lancastrian Transport Trust have announced details of a swap deal with Merseytravel, the organisation who aim to takeover the heritage tramway operation at Birkenhead. This is their second such arrangement, having previously acquired Balloon car 708 only to give it to the Manchester Transport Museum Society in exchange for sister car 704. This latest deal is a far more bizarre and confusing one, however!

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