{"id":50308,"date":"2023-07-14T20:00:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T19:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=50308"},"modified":"2023-07-14T19:32:41","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T18:32:41","slug":"tram-sunday-cancelled-blackpool-heritage-tram-tours-revise-planned-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=50308","title":{"rendered":"Tram Sunday cancelled \u2013 Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours revise planned service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fleetwood Tram Sunday 2023 has been cancelled because of the poor weather forecast for Sunday 16th<\/sup> July. Following the cancellation of the event Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours have confirmed that they will run a revised hop-on, hop-off timetable on the day, which will now operate to the usual timings (the same as Saturday 15th<\/sup>) with five tram scheduled to be in use both days.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In a statement released on the afternoon of Friday 14th<\/sup> July the organisers if Fleetwood Tram Sunday said: \u201cIt\u2019s with deep sadness that after consultation with key stakeholders, including our insurers and their legal department, we\u2019ve had to take the decision to cancel Fleetwood Festival of Transport and the SpareParts Festival for 2023. We\u2019ve been monitoring the weather hourly but unfortunately as at 14:00 today 14th July the MET Office weather forecast for Sunday 16th July is westerly winds of up to 35mph. To safely continue with the festival in these conditions is unfeasible for many reasons, particularly because of the number of gazebos and temporary structures on site. We always have and always will put visitor and participant safety first. It\u2019s of the upmost importance and the reason why we have taken the decision to cancel the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement continues: \u201cTo say we are disappointed is an understatement. Our volunteers have worked for months planning this event. They are passionate about our community and the festival and bringing people to Fleetwood to experience our lovely town and boost the local economy. We\u2019d like to say a big thank you to all the performers, vendors and community groups who were due to take part in the parade and the festival. We know how hard you\u2019ve worked on planning for this weekend too. We appreciate your understanding and hope you\u2019ll join us next year. We\u2019ll contact you as soon as possible to explain what will happen with your bookings. Unfortunately due to the logistics of road closure planning and participants having bookings throughout the rest of the year, we are unable to postpone the festival to a later date in 2023. We hope you understand and support our decision and will return to the festival with us in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours had been due to support the event by sending Balloon 723<\/strong> and the Western Train<\/strong> as static exhibits whilst also running heritage tours to Fisherman\u2019s Walk, including special mini-tours between Fisherman\u2019s Walk and Thornton Gate. But now with the event cancelled the plans have changed.<\/p>\n

The previously announced hop-on, hop-off timetable due to run on Saturday 15th<\/sup> July will now also run on Sunday 16th<\/sup> July providing various trips between Pleasure Beach and Fleetwood and many points in between!<\/p>\n

Tram allocations have now also been confirmed (and the trams chosen probably gives more of a clue of the weather forecast \u2013 which is very un-July like and probably the only Boat you may see is one with oars rowing down the Prom!)<\/p>\n

Saturday 15th<\/sup> July<\/strong><\/p>\n

A \u2013 Brush 631<\/p>\n

B \u2013 Balloon 700<\/p>\n

C \u2013 Railcoach 680<\/p>\n

D \u2013 Balloon 717<\/p>\n

E \u2013 Balloon 723<\/p>\n

Sunday 16th<\/sup> July<\/strong><\/p>\n

A \u2013 Balloon 700<\/p>\n

B \u2013 Balloon 723<\/p>\n

C \u2013 Brush 631<\/p>\n

D \u2013 Brush 621<\/p>\n

E \u2013 Centenary 648<\/p>\n

The previously announced plans for Saturday 15th<\/sup> July including the Full System Tour will continue as planned.<\/p>\n

Away from the heritage service and Blackpool Transport will continue to run a revised service on the core tramway service owing to policies in place regarding tram driver duties. This means all trams from Starr Gate will continue to terminate at Fisherman\u2019s Walk from the start of service until 1730.<\/p>\n