Anyone heading down to Tramtown in Blackpool (Rigby Road Depot) over the past few days will probably have been concerned by the sight of notices preventing access to the workshops and main tram shed and fencing across the front of the depot. In what seemed to be a sudden change of fortunes (Tramtown tours were still available for booking last week) it set the rumours off of what was going on but things have now been clarified after the release of a statement from Blackpool Transport Managing Director Jane Cole.<\/p>\n
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As has been known for some time Rigby Road Depot \u2013 which as well as housing the historic Tramtown visitor attraction is also home to Blackpool Transport\u2019s fleet of buses \u2013 is currently undergoing a major redevelopment. For the buses this will allow a brand new fleet of electric buses to be introduced and will see the historic workshops used by the trams (Paint Shop, Body Shop, Fitting Shop) demolished with the workshop equipment moved over to the tram shed and incorporated into Tramtown.<\/p>\n
Work on the redevelopment has now started and part of this will require a full structural survey to be undertaken of all buildings on site. Whilst this takes place access has been restricted and all Tramtown tours cancelled until 2024 whilst a number of heritage trams have been transferred to Starr Gate Depot to allow them to continue operating tours on the tramway \u2013 this has included both the Western Train<\/strong> and HMS Blackpool<\/strong> which now run from Starr Gate to Foxhall and then reverse to Pleasure Beach to start Illumination Tours each evening (when booked to do so).<\/p>\n In the statement Jane Cole says: \u201cHere at Blackpool Transport we are committed to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of all our staff, volunteers and contractors on site at Rigby Road. Rigby Road is currently being redeveloped to create a new bus engineering facility for our team and there is also a proposal to create an all-electric bus fleet.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery building on the site is having a structural survey at the moment to ascertain what needs to be done to either retain or demolish them. We have contractors on site and the use of drones in operation.<\/p>\n \u201cTramtown will not open to customer tours until 2024 but the volunteers have been accommodated in Rigby Road where they meet on a regular basis to continue their excellent work. A limited Heritage tram operation will continue throughout the illuminations until the 31st December, with trams housed at Starr Gate.\u201d<\/p>\n It is also confirmed that the Heritage Tram Tours will take a break in January to allow some intense maintenance and repair work to take place on some of the trams ahead of the start of another season of operation later in 2024.<\/p>\n Jane Cole concludes the statement: \u201cThe tram operation will close in January 2024 for a short period of time to enable some intense maintenance and repair work on some of the trams to be ready for the 2024 season.<\/p>\n \u201cBlackpool Transport and Blackpool Council continue to fully support Tramtown and the tramway operation.<\/p>\n \u201cMore information will be given at regular intervals and once the structural surveys and any repair works have been completed.\u201d<\/p>\n Although it will now not be possible to see behind the scenes at Tramtown, Illumination Tours are still available for booking along with some of the themed tours such as Fish & Chip Trams, Ghost Tram and the Real Ale Tour. More details at https:\/\/blackpoolheritage.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Anyone heading down to Tramtown in Blackpool (Rigby Road Depot) over the past few days will probably have been concerned by the sight of notices preventing access to the workshops and main tram shed and fencing across the front of … Continue reading