What’s New on British Trams Online? 14th April 2024

Posted on Sunday 14 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

More photos from the recent archives this week and we’re off to a special Blackpool Day at the Heaton Park Tramway in 2010:

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In Pictures: Trams stored in Wilkinson Street Depot yard

Posted on Saturday 20 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

As with practically every modern tramway system operating in the UK, Nottingham Express Transit currently have some of their tram fleet unavailable for service. Whereas for some systems the unavailable trams are currently inside workshops in Nottingham they remain stored in the yard visible to see.

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Campaign launched to save Roseburn Path in Edinburgh

Posted on Saturday 20 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

Earlier this year, the City of Edinburgh Council announced their intention to progress with plans to further extend the tram system with a line running between Granton and the Bio Quarter. There is a public consultation to come later this year looking at route options but even before that stage is reached a campaign has been started to “Save the Roseburn Path”.

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Testing to start on Blackpool Tramway extension on 23rd April

Posted on Friday 19 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

Tuesday 23rd April will be the day that many have been waiting for – trams will start testing on Talbot Road as the Blackpool Tramway extension approaches an opening date. OK, its not really the start of testing, more a resumption, but this will be an important milestone in the project which will eventually see the first extension of the tramway in modern times.

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Manchester Horse Tram L53 swaps Greater Manchester museums for the weekend!

Posted on Friday 19 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

Here’s a tram loan you probably didn’t see coming – and you’ll need to be quick to see it as Manchester Eades Reversible horse tram L53 has headed to the Greater Manchester Museum of Transport for display during their special event celebrating 200 years of buses in Britain which takes place this weekend (20th and 21st April 2024).

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 700

Posted on Friday 19 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

We return to Blackpool for the next few weeks in “Picture in Time”. Once again Donald Brooks is the photographer to start things off on the northern section of the tramway.

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In Pictures: In the Workshop and around the depots at Crich

Posted on Thursday 18 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

We recently featured a pictorial article from the Crich Tramway Village of trams out on the mainline in service and in this accompanying report we now take a look at the Workshop and around the depot. The Workshop section concentrates on the two major projects at the moment – London County Council 1 and Blackpool 298.

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In Pictures: Buffers go in at North Station

Posted on Thursday 18 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

Little by little progress is being made around the North Station terminus of the Blackpool Tramway extension – its not enough to say wow its nearly ready but as a certain supermarket says “every little helps”!

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WMM engineer to appear on Masterchef!

Posted on Thursday 18 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

A West Midlands Metro engineer will be swapping his spanner for a spoon this week as he serves up a selection of delicious dishes for judges on the BBC’s Masterchef. Conor Moon will be battling to get through the Heats of Masterchef which will be screened on BBC One at 2000 on Thursday 18th April.

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Back to fleet livery for Metrolink trams

Posted on Wednesday 17 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

Over the past few weeks its been a case of fleet livery disappearing and be replaced by advertising vinyls on Manchester Metrolink but this time we flip the story over as it’s the complete reverse! In this article we feature 3023, 3028 and 3075 which have lost their adverts and are now back in yellow and silver.

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Brighton 53 Open Days for 2024 announced

Posted on Wednesday 17 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

There will be a chance to see behind the scenes and the latest progress on the restoration of Brighton 53 in a special Open Weekend on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May.

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Another milestone for West Midlands Metro Dudley extension

Posted on Wednesday 17 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

We don’t even have work completed on the first phase of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill via Dudley West Midlands Metro extension yet we’re still able to celebrate a milestone in phase two of the route. The historic Parkhead Viaduct is nearing completion of its restoration with the final scaffolding due to be removed shortly.

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In Pictures: Trams back running at Crich

Posted on Tuesday 16 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

As you’ll have already read after a delay to the operating season for trams at Crich they started to run along the line again from Easter Saturday, 30th March 2024. Our first photos of the season come from two weeks later on Saturday 13th April 2024 when a standard three tram service was in operation using Glasgow 22, Leeds 399 and Sheffield 510 with Blackpool 40 also running some trips after its driver training duties were complete. Trevor Hall with the photos.

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Model tram exhibition returns to Blackpool this May

Posted on Tuesday 16 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

After the success of last year’s Model Tramway Exhibition at the Solaris Centre in Blackpool it will return again this year at the same location. Due to take place on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th May it will again see plenty of layouts on display.

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Operation Coastwatch to return on the Metro

Posted on Tuesday 16 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

A major operation aimed at reducing antisocial behaviour on the Tyne and Wear Metro is to return this summer. Operation Coastwatch is a joint operation with North Tyneside Council working alongside Northumbria Police and Nexus and will run from April to October.

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More details released on future of Midland Metro 16

Posted on Monday 15 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

Last November we reported on an unexpected tram move which saw former Midland Metro T69 16 moved from its long-term storage home of Long Marston to the Very Light Rail Innovation Centre in Dudley. Although it was known that it would be moving to be used as a test tram little else was publicly revealed at the time but now the Black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation (BCIMO) have released more details about what has happened to the tram so far and also what the longer term plans are for it.

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They’ve Run in 2024!

Posted on Monday 15 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

For the first time this year we take a look at which heritage trams have run in service during 2024 across the British Isles. To remind you this article aim to feature which heritage trams have run in passenger service during the year – private hires do count but if the tram has only undergone test runs that does not count for the purposes of the article. Information is correct as far as we are aware but if you know of any errors or omissions please let us know – contact details at the end of the article.

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Posted in Beamish Tramway, Birkenhead Heritage Tramway, Black Country Living Museum, Blackpool Tramway, Burton & Ashby 14, Crich Tramway Village, Douglas Bay Horse Tramway, East Anglia Transport Museum, Great Orme Tramway, Heaton Park Tramway, Manx Electric Railway, Seaton Tramway, Snaefell Mountain Railway, Summerlee Museum Tramway, They Ran in 2024, Volk's Electric Railway | Leave a comment

Out and About: Edinburgh Trams – Ocean Terminal

Posted on Monday 15 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

Edinburgh is once again the location for “Out and About”.

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Manchester Metrolink Then & Now: Collyhurst Road

Posted on Sunday 14 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

We now return to “Manchester Metrolink Then & Now” – our series where we take a look at a location on the Metrolink network either before or during construction and after trams started to run. The series resumes on the Oldham and Rochdale line at Collyhurst Road.

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In Pictures: Supertram 125 fails at Hillsborough

Posted on Sunday 14 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

There were slight delays caused to services on the Stagecoach Supertram network (on what was the last day of Stagecoach operation!) on Thursday 21st March after Siemens-Duewag built tram 125 suffered a fault at Hillsborough tramstop.

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Review of light rail safety document completed

Posted on Sunday 14 April 2024 by Gareth Prior

A document which sets out the core principles of light rail safety has been reissued to the industry after a review was completed by sector experts. More than 200 amendments have been made to the Tramway Principles and Guidance (TPG1) which was first published by the Office of Road and Rail over a decade ago.

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