Stop by Stop Edinburgh Trams: Through the City Centre and beyond – Balgreen

Posted on Sunday 2 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

We have another edition of “Stop by Stop” as our journey on Edinburgh Trams continues. We now come to Balgreen.

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Out and About: The last days of Supertram 115’s JD Sports advert

Posted on Sunday 2 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

Although so far in 2025 it has been relatively quiet for advertising changes on UK tram systems one tram which has swapped one set of vinyls for another is South Yorkshire Supertram 115. In this “Out and About” we take a look at it in the last days of its carrying vinyls for JD Sports.

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Aberdeen 11 hits the rails on test

Posted on Sunday 2 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

Work on returning Aberdeen Suburban Tramways Company 11 to service – albeit as hauled stock – on the Alford Valley Community Railway in Aberdeenshire is continuing to move forward with it having escaped from the workshops for an initial test run.

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What’s New on British Trams Online? 2nd March 2025

Posted on Sunday 2 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

We are off to Edinburgh for this week’s photos:

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555 005 makes its four Stadler trains in service on the Tyne and Wear Metro

Posted on Saturday 1 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

There are now four possible new trains which you could see out in service on the Tyne and Wear Metro after 555 005 became the latest to be used in revenue service. The Stadler built train carried its first passengers on Tuesday 25th February – the second of the trains to have entered service within four days.

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Around the World in Trams: Nice 008

Posted on Saturday 1 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

The next location for “Around the World in Trams” (as it will be throughout March) will be the French city of Nice.

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Tramtown to reopen from Easter

Posted on Saturday 1 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

There will be another chance to see behind the scenes at the historic Rigby Road Depot in Blackpool from Easter with the launch of “whole new tour experience”. This year the established Tramtown tours will be different as there will be a lot more freedom for visitors to walk what is being described as an exhibition hall experience instead of the full guided tours which have previously been offered.

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Light Rail Engineers highlight grey areas as Asset Management

Posted on Saturday 1 March 2025 by Gareth Prior

UK Tram’s Light Rail Engineering Group recently met in Birmingham for their first meeting of 2025 alongside a best practice day where they discussed the challenge posed by “grey assets”. These are assets may not be subject to clear ownership which present difficulties for tramway operators and their engineers when it comes to funding and scheduling essential maintenance.

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In Pictures: Another progress update on the Black Country line

Posted on Friday 28 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

Construction work is continuing on the West Midlands Metro Black Country line extension as we see in this latest pictorial update. The line will be the next extension to open on the West Midlands Metro with the current plans being that it will see its first services by the end of this year. It will run from Wednesbury to Dudley and this is just the first phase of what was once to be called the Brierley Hill line with phase two now funded which will enable it to reach Merry Hill. Andy Walters with these photos.

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In Pictures: Metrolink T68 1003 at the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Training and Safety Centre

Posted on Friday 28 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

When Manchester Metrolink’s T68 and T68A trams were withdrawn from service the majority of them were sold for scrap and made the journey across to Rotherham where they met their end. But there were a few which would have a different next chapter – some of them entered preservation, some were sold for test purposes to UKTram whilst one had a much more unique future in store for it.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Railcoach 678

Posted on Friday 28 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

“Picture in Time” return to Blackpool for the next few weeks with another set of images. And we carry on with some more wintry images taken in January 1979 to start with from the camera of Donald Brooks.

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Luas 5037 moved to France for repairs

Posted on Thursday 27 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

This article has been updated 04/03/2025 with a photo of the tram before its move.

A piece of news which we didn’t pick on at the time involves a tram which was severely damaged during the Dublin riots in November 2023. Luas 5037 was seen in news stories across the world after it was set on fire during the riots and after full assessment it was decided to send it back to France for repairs.

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Beamish announce details of Festival of Transport 2025

Posted on Thursday 27 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

There will be a change of transport special events for 2025 at Beamish with the traditional Steam Fair replaced by a nine day Festival of Transport. This new event will take place at the end of May and start of June across the Spring Bank Holiday and school half-term holidays with lots of different themes at various points during that period.

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The voice of the Tyne and Wear Metro is revealed

Posted on Thursday 27 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

Have you ever wondered who the voice of the Tyne and Wear Metro is? Well, if you have it has now been revealed by Nexus as professional voiceover artist, Mark Bryant. He has been recording the automatic announcements on the Metro for 15 years, providing essential route information and station names for thousands of passengers.

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Advert Up Close: South Yorkshire Supertram 115 – Park and Ride

Posted on Wednesday 26 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

We go “Up Close” with another advert in this article as we take a look at the newest wrap in Sheffield – that on 115 promoting the various Park and Ride sites located adjacent to tramstops. Stuart Cooke helps us to take a closer look at some of the detail of the advert.

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Next stage of Metrolink engineering works to get underway

Posted on Wednesday 26 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

Saturday 1st March will see the next stage of major engineering works get underway on Manchester Metrolink. This time work will be taking place at York Street in the city centre which will mean changes to service patterns and some services being diverted across the city centre.

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NET Travel Centre to close

Posted on Wednesday 26 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

Nottingham Express Transit have announced that their Travel Centre (located on King Street in the city centre) will be closing permanently on Tuesday 25th March as a result of the changing habits of customers. The money saved from the closure will be reinvested into policing the network.

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In Pictures: Edinburgh Trams split service – West End

Posted on Tuesday 25 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

This has become a bit of a trilogy of article and here is the conclusion of the great saga of the three day Edinburgh Trams split service owing to engineering works at York Place! Having already concentrated on the operations at the Balfour Street end of the works and the actual trackwork, this time we head to West End to see how things operated there during the three day closure of the line through the city centre. Roy Calderwood is again the photographic guide to things.

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West Midlands Metro ticket machines to be switched on

Posted on Tuesday 25 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

After several months of expectation following the installation of ticket machines at all stops across the West Midlands Metro it has been confirmed that Wednesday 26th February will be the day they are switched on ready for passenger use. Described as a new chapter for the system, the switching on of the machines marks a new way to pay for travel and comes after extensive testing of the functionality on the machines.

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Nexus propose to ban vaping on the Metro

Posted on Tuesday 25 February 2025 by Gareth Prior

It may come as a surprise but the use of vapes and electronic cigarettes is not currently banned on the Tyne and Wear Metro. But that could be about to change as Nexus are proposing a change to byelaws which would ban the use of both on the network (including trains and stations), in the same way that cigarettes currently are.

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