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About the Tram of the Year |
Conceived as a bit of fun at the end of the year the British Trams Online Tram of the Year originally sought to find the tramcar which had done something "special" over the previous 12 months. There has never been a full definition of what "special" actually means in this case but over the years tramcars which have won have had a repaint, entered service after a repaint or gone on loan away from their home tramway to name but there examples. In 2012 the contest was expanded to include two new categories - Event of the Year and Tramway of the Year - and then in 2014 a fourth category was voted for the first time - Tram (Modern) of the Year. 2023 saw the Tramway of the Year category split with one for heritage/museums and one for modern operating systems. At the start of December each year nominations are opened for a week to allow anyone to put forward suggestions for each of the categories before our "expert panel" (which is probably neither expert nor a panel!) convene to make a decision of what should be on the final shortlist, with each category normally having around five items to vote on. Voting takes place for approximately four weeks between December and January and we then name the lucky winners. |
British Trams Online Tram of the Year 2024 |
Tram of the Year: And the winners are... |
The East Anglia Transport Museum in Carlton Colville can celebrate after they walked away with three of the categories at the British Trams Online Tram of the Year 2024! They received the most votes from the public in all three categories they were nominated for, with the only categories they didn’t come out on top being the modern tram ones! Meanwhile, there was also cause for celebration for the Blackpool Tramway and Manchester Metrolink as they received the most votes in the remaining categories. Once again, this year saw voting open for four weeks allowing the public to register their votes for their favourites and after the main “Tram (Heritage) of the Year” category was initially a close fought race, the Christmas period saw Blackpool Brush Railcoach 634 start to pull away and in the end over 50% of you decided that the Fylde Transport Trust single deck Railcoach had done the most to win the category. 2024 saw the tram return to passenger service at the East Anglia Transport Museum after several years of restoration, firstly by former owner Andy Ashton and then the Fylde Transport Trust when they took ownership. The work was then swiftly completed at the East Anglia Transport Museum once the tram arrived there in late 2023. It ended up entering service at a special event over Easter 2024 (more on that event a bit later!). In a very strong year for contenders in this category, the stunning 10-year restoration of London County Council 1 came in second place (after it entered service in September 2024, running for the first time in 57 years!) whilst another tram returning to action at Crich, Newcastle 102, was the third tram on the shortlist (a mere 24 years since that tram last ran!). The East Anglia Transport Museum also got just over 50% of the total votes in the “Event of the Year” category and it was the launch of Blackpool 634 which helped out there too. The Blackpool Tram Event took place over the Easter Weekend and the first day not only saw 634 enter service but also saw three other trams with a Blackpool connection run: Marton VAMBAC 11, Standard 159 and Sheffield 513. Coming in second place for that category was the Manx Heritage Transport Festival which again pulled out all the stops for a packed programme of events. The opening of the North Station extension in Blackpool was third before two Crich events completed the shortlist: A Journey Through Time and Light and Tram Weekend. Two third of those who voted in the “Tramway/Museum of the Year” category decided that once again the East Anglia Transport Museum deserved that accolade. With Blackpool 634 joining the tram operating fleet, work also continues on the development of the museum and work resumed on the big restoration of Glasgow 488. It was also the busiest year for visitor numbers in history for the museum which is continuing to go places! The Crich Tramway Village was second in that category for a year which saw two long-term projects return to service (LCC 1 and Newcastle 102) to join the most varied operating fleet anywhere within the UK. Moving onto modern tramways and the “Tram (Modern) of the Year” saw two nominees and led to Blackpool 018 getting the most votes. 018 was the first tram which carried passengers on the North Station extension when it ran the pre-opening specials and that saw 62% of you decide that deserved that award. The other nominee was South Yorkshire Supertram 105, which returned to service after accident damage repairs for the first time in over three years. The final category was also by far the closest – “Tramway (Modern) of the Year”. With just a single voting separating them Manchester Metrolink is your winner, beating Edinburgh Trams into second place. Both networks had seen passenger numbers continue to increase and both had record-breaking days during the 12 months under review. South Yorkshire Supertram wasn’t too far behind as you celebrated its return to local authority control. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners and those shortlisted in each of the categories. Thank you for everyone who took the time to vote. And don’t forget to keep your eye out for anything which may be deserving of a nomination for the 2025 Awards! |
Tram of the Year: The Results |
Tram (Heritage) of the Year
Blackpool Brush Railcoach 634 – 225 votes (55.97%) 17 votes removed due to multiple votes (caused no change to ranking)
Tram (Modern) of the Year
Blackpool 018 – 208 votes (62.09%) 13 votes removed due to multiple votes (caused no change to ranking)
Tramway/Museum of the Year
East Anglia Transport Museum – 313 votes (66.88%) 18 votes removed due to multiple votes (caused no change to ranking)
Tramway of the Year (Modern)
Manchester Metrolink – 121 votes (35.17%) 14 votes removed due to multiple votes (caused no change to ranking)
Event of the Year
East Anglia Transport Museum: Blackpool Tram Event – 251 votes (50.81%) 19 votes removed due to multiple votes (caused no change to ranking)
Votes received from the same IP address are considered a multiple vote. In these cases the first set of votes are accepted with all subsequent votes removed from the final rankings.
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Tram of the Year: The Shortlist |
Tram (Heritage) of the Year
Blackpool Brush Railcoach 634 London County Council 1 Newcastle 102 Tram (Modern) of the Year
Blackpool 018 South Yorkshire Supertram 105 Tramway/Museum (Heritage) of the Year
Crich Tramway Village East Anglia Transport Museum Tramway (Modern) of the Year
Edinburgh Trams Manchester Metrolink South Yorkshire Supertram Event (Heritage/Modern) of the Year
Blackpool – Opening of North Station extension events Crich Tramway Village – Tram Weekend Crich Tramway Village – A Journey Through Light and Time East Anglia Transport Museum – Blackpool Tram Event Manx Heritage Transport Festival |
Tram of the Year: Nominations now open! |
As December arrives it can only mean one thing (well, it probably means quite a lot of things!) – its time to launch the British Trams Online Tram of the Year contest for 2024! Regular readers of this website will know exactly what that means, but for the rest of you read on to find out more. Once again this year we will be looking to name “Tram (Heritage)”, “Tram (Modern)”, “Tramway/Museum”, “Tramway (Modern)” and “Event” of the Year. The next seven days or so is your chance to put forward nominees to make the final shortlist ahead of voting in December/January. The nomination period is open for only a week with the deadline for any nominations being Saturday 7th December 2024. Voting then opens on Sunday 8th December 2024 and will remain open for four weeks until the morning of Saturday 4th January 2025. The qualifying period for nominations is between the first weekend in December 2023 and the first weekend in December 2024 (i.e. it has to have already happened for it to qualify!). We will be looking to find winners in the following categories (if there are no obvious contenders in any categories that may not go forward to the voting stage): Tram (Heritage) of the Year This category looks to find the heritage tram which has done that something out of the ordinary in the past 12 months. It could be that its operated away from its home tramway, re-entered service after overhaul/restoration or even just been that stalwart of operation. Tram (Modern) of the Year Has there been a modern tram which has done something special in 2023? It could have received a new livery or a special advert which gave that wow factor or maybe it was the first tram to run on a new line? Or did it even run in service for the very first time? Tramway/Museum (Heritage) of the Year This category is looking for which heritage tramways/museums has had a special year over the past 12 months. What that something special may be is entirely up to – just remember to give reasons why! Tramway (Modern) of the Year For the first time in 2023 we separated this category to allow modern operating systems to have their chance to shine as well. We are looking for a modern tramway which has had a good year – whether that’s a new service introduced or just a system which continues to prove its popularity its up to you! Event of the Year A category which can cover both heritage and modern tramways (although has been heavily dominated by heritage lines in the past!). It could be a special event on a heritage tramway but could equally be the opening of a new line or an improved service on one of the modern operating tramways across the British Isles. * Leave a comment on the News page |
Previous Contests |
![]() 2023 Tramcar - Manx Electric Railway 19 LRV - Edinburgh Trams 258 Tramway/Museum - Manx Electric Railway Tramway (Modern) - Edinburgh Trams Event - Isle of Man: Year of the Railways Transport Festival |
![]() 2022 Tramcar - Blackpool 159 LRV - Blackpool 011 Tramway/Museum - East Anglia Transport Museum Event - Blackpool: Jubilee Tram Parade |
![]() 2021 Tramcar - Manx Electric Railway 2 LRV - Manchester Metrolink 1023 Tramway - Crich Tramway Village Event - Isle of Man: Winter Heritage Transport Festival |
![]() 2020 Tramcar - Stockport 5 LRV - Manchester Metrolink 3073 Tramway - Seaton Tramway Event - Seaton Tramway: 50th anniversary event |
![]() 2019 Tramcar - Manx Electric Railway 54 LRV - Blackpool Tramway 001 & Manchester Metrolink 3006 Tramway - Heaton Park Tramway Event - Manx Heritage Transport Festival |
![]() 2018 Tramcar - Manx Electric Railway 14 LRV - Stagecoach Supertram 399 203 Tramway - Manx Electric Railway Event - Manx Electric Railway 125th anniversary |
![]() 2017 Tramcar - Douglas Bay Horse Tramway 36 LRV - Stagecoach Supertram 399 202 Tramway - Statfold Barn Railway Event - Statfold Barn Railway: Burton & Ashby 14 launch |
![]() 2016 Tramcar - Blackpool Marton 31 LRV - Manchester Metrolink 3120 Tramway - Douglas Bay Horse Tramway Event - Douglas Bay Horse Tramway: 140th Anniversary |
![]() 2015 Tramcar - Liverpool 245 LRV - Manchester Metrolink 3100 Tramway - Blackpool Tramway Event - Blackpool Tramway: 130th Anniversary |
![]() 2014 Tramcar - Blackpool Pantograph 167 LRV - Manchester Metrolink 1007 Tramway - Crich Tramway Village Event - Crich Tramway Village: Electric 50 |
![]() 2013 Tramcar - Blackpool Boat 227 Tramway - Heaton Park Tramway Event - Rejuvenation of Blackpool Heritage Service |
![]() 2012 Tramcar - Blackpool Brush 623 Tramway - Blackpool Event - Glasgow 50 at Crich |
![]() 2011 Tramcar - Blackpool Marton VAMBAC 11 |
![]() 2010 Tramcar - Liverpool 762 |
![]() 2009 Tramcar - Blackpool Western Train 733+734 |
![]() 2008 Tramcar - Blackpool Balloon 717 |
![]() 2007 Tramcar - Blackpool Brush 623 |
![]() 2006 Tramcar - Leeds 345 |
![]() 2005 Tramcar - Trampower Tram |
![]() 2004 Tramcar - Blackpool Illuminated Frigate 736 & Nottingham Express Transit 203 (joint winners) |
![]() 2003 Tramcar - Leeds 602 |
This page was last updated on Sunday 5th January 2025 |
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