{"id":62407,"date":"2026-03-28T22:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=62407"},"modified":"2026-03-28T21:30:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T21:30:46","slug":"in-pictures-blackpool-018-back-out-as-it-celebrates-blackpool-tramways-award-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=62407","title":{"rendered":"In Pictures: Blackpool 018 back out as it celebrates Blackpool Tramway\u2019s award win"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As we\u2019ve reported already this year, the Blackpool Tramway has been the latest system in the UK to suffer from tram shortages which required the introduction of a temporary timetable (which is still in place). Maintenance of the trams has been continuing during the quieter winter months and things took a step forward in late March with <strong>018<\/strong> returning to action \u2013 complete with new vinyls to celebrate the Tramway Operator of the Year award they won in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>018<\/strong> had last been seen in service on 7<sup>th<\/sup> January 2026 but after attention at Starr Gate Depot it returned to the Promenade on 26<sup>th<\/sup> March 2026. Although not in passenger service \u2013 it was being used for driver training \u2013 this is a positive sign that things should improve on the tram availability front and allow an improved frequency timetable to be introduced later in the year for the busier summer season.<\/p>\n<p>The tram is also the first in the fleet to receive special vinyls on the ends which note that they won UK Tram Operator of the Year at the National Transport Awards. This is similar to how Edinburgh Trams have previously made mention of their award wins, and there is surely no coincidence that the new Managing Director of Blackpool Transport has come from Edinburgh!<\/p>\n<p>There remain six trams out of service, some longer than others:<\/p>\n<p>004 \u2013 last ran December 2025<\/p>\n<p>005 \u2013 last ran July 2022<\/p>\n<p>007 \u2013 last ran January 2026<\/p>\n<p>010 \u2013 last ran August 2025<\/p>\n<p>012 \u2013 last ran December 2025<\/p>\n<p>017 \u2013 last ran December 2025<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_62408\" style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/018-os.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62408\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-62408\" src=\"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/018-os-550x413.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/018-os-550x413.jpg 550w, https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/018-os-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/018-os.jpg 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-62408\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">018 on its first day back out. The new UK Tram Operator of the Year logos are seen underneath the Blackpool Tramway logo on the end of the tram. (Photograph by Oliver Shenton, 26th March 2026)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we\u2019ve reported already this year, the Blackpool Tramway has been the latest system in the UK to suffer from tram shortages which required the introduction of a temporary timetable (which is still in place). Maintenance of the trams has &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=62407\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62407"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62409,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62407\/revisions\/62409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}