The promise of a tram ride from Starr Gate to Fleetwood has often been broken with surprisingly heavy loadings on the first two days of service often causing late running. This has already lead to a number of journeys being turned short at destinations such as Fisherman’s Walk and even Bispham, which is really not acceptable. Hopefully these issues, which may well have been addressed sooner had a whole month of ‘ghost running’ operated as planned before the grand opening, can be resolved soon. A new timetable is expected to be introduced with a ten-minute daytime service on most days reportedly starting from late June, and this will be an ideal opportunity to assess how the existing timetable has worked in practice and consider whether longer running times are needed.<\/p>\n
However, the number of passengers using the trams has exceeded expectations to the extent that the high-capacity Flexity cars have actually been noted leaving passengers behind! The crush loadings also made it\u00a0almost impossible for tram conductors to\u00a0move along the aisles and collect fares at peak times.\u00a0To help resolve the situation, the first special of the season was brought into action on Thursday afternoon with rebuilt Balloon car 724<\/strong> doing the honours, and duly becoming the first old (albeit modernised) tram in passenger service this year. This was an unexpected treat for the enthusiats who had turned out to sample the new trams on this day, but unfortunately the chance to ride on a double-decker was short-lived as 724<\/strong> suffered a fault with its plug doors and was terminated at Little Bispham. Had this not happened, the tram would have run to Fleetwood which would have certainly been a high point for many enthusiasts, particularly as the widened Balloon cars were never supposed to run to Fleetwood in service! The appearance of this car did at least remind us all that faulty trams are nothing new to Blackpool, as of course the modified Balloons were very unreliable last season with 724<\/strong> itself suffering the\u00a0same fault on the last day of the 2011 season!<\/p>\n April 5th also witnessed the arrival of Flexity 012<\/strong> at around lunchtime. As all eleven of the Flexities which had arrived previously have already been running, 012<\/strong> is likely to be commissioned quickly so it will be interesting to see when it debuts in service. Further interest came in the shape of Balloon 713<\/strong> which paid a visit to Starr Gate, although unlike 724<\/strong> this car was running ‘out of service’.<\/p>\n Hopefully at least some of the concerns mentioned above will be ironed out quickly, because the passenger numbers so far give a clear message that there is no shortage of people in Blackpool who want to give the new-look tramway a chance to prove itself. With the heritage trams due to enter service on their new coastal tours on Good Friday, Easter will be an important time for Blackpool Transport and hopefully the long weekend can be a success and set a positive scene for the season ahead.<\/p>\n The welcome sight of a service tram running through Cleveleys Square. This is car 011, which ran for the first time on 4th April, debuting in service having skipped the testing and crew training stages! (Photo by Andrew Blood)<\/p><\/div>\n Flexity 010 meets 724 at Norbreck. Sadly 724's destination had proved optimistic as the car was being emptied here due to a fault with its doors. (Photo by Andrew Blood)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Following the unfortunate circumstances which surrounded the start of tram services on the upgraded Blackpool tram system, the second day of operation was effectively a chance for Blackpool Transport to wipe the slate clean and start again, with the opportunity … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/011-1024x682.jpg\" "\\"011\\"")
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