Good Friday 6th April marked the start of Blackpool Transport’s highly anticipated new heritage tram tours. With the old fleet unable to load at the new platforms at tram stops, all of the retained fleet apart from the widened Balloons are now effectively restricted to working tours only, and the new service has been introduced to give them a useful role on the modernised system. As expected, the vintage trams run between Pleasure\u00a0Beach and Little Bispham, and they\u00a0load and unload at four key locations: Pleasure Beach, North Pier, Cabin and Bispham.<\/p>\n
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The trams chosen to inagurate the new tour service on this day were Standard 147<\/strong> (which worked the first journey) and Bolton 66<\/strong>. The latter was a very welcome choice as it had not run for just over eighteen months, and this was also the first time it had operated north of Bispham since the 2009 illuminations, or possibly even longer! 66<\/strong> had spent several weeks in the Electrical Compound where it has been fitted with transponders, which 147<\/strong> already had. Despite residing in Blackpool since 1981, Bolton 66<\/strong> has always been popular whenever it runs and it was fantastic to see this tram back in service after a fairly long absence.<\/p>\n Sadly, the vintage trams were very lightly loaded on the first day despite the Flexities once again being very busy. The \u00a310 fare of a heritage day pass, and the lack of any cheaper tickets that are valid on the heritage cars, could well be blamed but in fairness poor weather will have kept many would-be day-trippers at home. Indeed, cold winds led to the drivers on 66<\/strong> and 147<\/strong> complainging about being cold, and so both trams ran in early and were replaced by the more driver-friendly illuminated Frigate 736<\/strong> and Trawler 737<\/strong>. Although not generally considered as ‘heritage’ cars by most enthusiasts, at least their appearance enabled people who had invested in a day pass to ride on two more different trams without having to pay again.<\/p>\n Despite the lack of passengers, the heritage tours appeared to run well and hopefully as more people become aware of the new operating patterns, business will pick up. We encourage anyone reading this website who visits Blackpool this season to buy a heritage pass, which allows ticket-holders on ride on the service trams as well as vintage cars. The tours need to be well supported to justify continued investment in the old trams we love, and if the venture proves profitable then hopefully more trams will be added to the pool of available vehicles. Your tramway needs you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good Friday 6th April marked the start of Blackpool Transport’s highly anticipated new heritage tram tours. With the old fleet unable to load at the new platforms at tram stops, all of the retained fleet apart from the widened Balloons … Continue reading