It has been announced that Blackpool Transport’s Managing Director Trevor Roberts has stepped down\u00a0from his position with the company. Mr Roberts had been in charge of the firm since 2009 when he replaced Steve Burd, and although he has served in the post for a relatively short period of time compared with his predecessors, he has overseen one of the most exciting periods in the tramway’s history.<\/p>\n
Trevor has of course been in charge of Blackpool Transport as the town’s tram system was gradually transformed from a rather sad shadow of its former self, into a modern and reliable light rail system. When he first took over as Managing Director, Trevor Roberts attracted some criticism from fans of the system’s traditional trams, but he has in fact seen the importance of the tramway’s historic value and has given Bryan Lindop almost total control of the retained heritage tram fleet. The two men have ensured that, not only have a token sample of vintage trams remained in service, but that these have been well looked after and given a meaningful role to play alongside the new trams.<\/p>\n
One of the most controversial factors of Trevor’s reign was his increasingly strained relationship with the Lancastrian Transport Trust, which ultimately led to several of their trams being evicted from Rigby Road and deposited in outside storage. However, BTS eventually managed to negotiate with the LTT, allowing most of these trams to return home for future restoration to running order. Anyone who ever doubted Trevor Roberts’ commitment to the tramway and its heritage has been well and truly silenced by this remarkable turn of events.<\/p>\n
Presumably someone else from BTS will have to take charge whilst the Council seek to recruit a replacement M.D. We would like to wish Trevor Roberts all the best for the future, and offer our sincere thanks for all that he has done to benefit the trams over the last five years. Hopefully his replacement will be equally mindful of the true value of what he or she is taking responsibility for, as Blackpool is on the verge of establishing something really special with its mixed modern and historic trams.<\/p>\n
The wording of this article has been amended at the request of Trevor Roberts, to ensure that our report accurately portrays the true situation.<\/p>\n
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It has been announced that Blackpool Transport’s Managing Director Trevor Roberts has stepped down\u00a0from his position with the company. Mr Roberts had been in charge of the firm since 2009 when he replaced Steve Burd, and although he has served … Continue reading