After five weeks of voting the results have been \u201cchecked and verified\u201d and we have three new winners in the British Trams Online Tram of the Year contest. The Tram of 2013 is a tram who saw one of its sisters head for a new life across the sea, the Tramway of the year comes from the north west of the country whilst the Event of the Year is, well the winning event was rather predictable really.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tram of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n The winner in this category was Blackpool Boat 227<\/strong> which received just over a quarter of the votes. Although the tram quickly established a lead the whole contest was a fairly tight one with less than 30 votes the difference between all five trams \u2013 the tightest it has ever been between all nominees. 227<\/strong> proved popular with the majority of people following its return to action during the August Bank Holiday Heritage Service on its home system in a new \u201cwhat if\u201d red and white livery.<\/p>\n Just five votes separated the next three trams with Blackpool Centenary 648<\/strong> making it a Blackpool one-two in second swiftly followed by Glasgow 1068<\/strong> and then Stockport 5<\/strong> in fourth. Last but certainly by no means least was Leeds 107<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Results<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Blackpool Boat 227 \u2013 79 votes (25.08%)<\/p>\n Blackpool Centenary 648 \u2013 64 votes (20.32%)<\/p>\n Glasgow 1068 \u2013 61 votes (19.37%)<\/p>\n Stockport 5 \u2013 59 votes (18.73%)<\/p>\n Leeds 107 \u2013 52 votes (16.51%)<\/p>\n Tramway of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n Normally when the Blackpool Tramway is nominated for anything you expect it to walk away with the award but not this time as a late surge by the Heaton Park Tramway meant that the up and coming heritage tramway in Manchester became the second winner of this category. Just over 40% of those voting felt that the progress made at Heaton Park, particularly with the construction of the new depot during 2013 meant the tramway deserved the award.<\/p>\n Coming in second place, 13 votes behind Heaton Park, was reigning champion the Blackpool Tramway, whilst the third place tramway was Manchester Metrolink almost 50 further votes back.<\/p>\n I\u2019m pretty sure this category will be very keenly contested in 2014!<\/p>\n Results<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Heaton Park Tramway \u2013 128 votes (41.42%)<\/p>\n Blackpool Tramway \u2013 115 votes (37.22%)<\/p>\n Manchester Metrolink \u2013 66 votes (21.36%)<\/p>\n Event of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n Let\u2019s be honest here there was only ever going to be one winner for Event of the Year and that was, of course, the rejuvenation of the Blackpool Heritage Service with 133 voters believing that was the best event of 2013.<\/p>\n The other three events of the year probably didn\u2019t really ever stand a chance but they make a nice symmetry with 80 votes for second place Heaton Park Tramway Autumn Gala, 60 votes for the Crich Enthusiasts\u2019 Event and 40 votes for the perhaps surprising fourth place event Great North Festival of Transport at Beamish.<\/p>\n Looking at how some great events were unable to compete with the Blackpool juggernaught probably shows just how much tram events have come on in recent years.<\/p>\n Results<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Rejuvenation of Blackpool Heritage Service \u2013 133 votes (42.49%)<\/p>\n Heaton Park Tramway Autumn Gala \u2013 80 votes (25.56%)<\/p>\n Crich Enthusiasts\u2019 Day \u2013 60 votes (19.17%)<\/p>\n Great North Festival of Transport, Beamish \u2013 40 votes (12.78%)<\/p>\n And so that is the contest over for another year. Congratulations to all those who won and well done also to all the nominees, the strength of the shortlists seems to go from strength to strength each year. The Tram of the Year contest will return towards the end of 2014 \u2013 who knows just what will be in contention then as we certainly have a lot to look forward to over the next year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After five weeks of voting the results have been \u201cchecked and verified\u201d and we have three new winners in the British Trams Online Tram of the Year contest. The Tram of 2013 is a tram who saw one of its … Continue reading