With regret, we report that the scheduled heritage tram tours in Blackpool have been cancelled this weekend, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th July. This is due to the Pleasure Beach loop being temporarily out of action, and follows what has been a difficult few days for the heritage operation that Blackpool Transport will probably be keen to forget!<\/p>\n
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Following the disapointing use of just one tram earlier in the week, the usual two-car service was restored for Friday 27th July, when both serviceable Boat cars, 230<\/strong> (ex-604<\/strong>) and 600<\/strong> were superb choices thanks to fine weather on this day. However, some problems were experienced with the automatic\u00a0points entering the Pleasure Beach loop. Re-setting the transponders on both Boat cars failed to help matters, and so it was back to the traditional method of changing the points using an old points bar. Unfortunately this also proved problematic, and the following day the situation went from bad to worse as the points refused to be changed at all. This unfortunately meant that no heritage tours ran that day, with none expected on Sunday either.<\/p>\n With strict restrictions on the number of heritage tram stops allowed on the tramway, there was little other option available to Blackpool Transport. Perhaps tours could have run between North Pier and Little Bispham only, but as this would have missed out the lucrative promenade section, passenger numbers would probably have suffered heavily. A shorter ride would also not have justified the usual fares, so although the suspension of the tours will have disapointed some people, it was probably the best decision to make. At the time of writing it was expected that the heritage cars would return to use on Monday 29th July following emergency repairs to the problematic points although anyone planning to visit specifically to ride on the old trams is advised to check the current situation before travelling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With regret, we report that the scheduled heritage tram tours in Blackpool have been cancelled this weekend, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th July. This is due to the Pleasure Beach loop being temporarily out of action, and follows what has … Continue reading