Blackpool tram incident

[Andyh82]

I see that there is a major fire in Blackpool this morning in a derelict building on a street corner very close to Rigby Road depot. Sorry I can't do a link, but it would appear from videos posted on YouTube that the access line to the depot runs right past the site in a street that is currently cordoned off. No doubt this will be affecting tram services.

It effected the heritage trams but not the modern ones as they run from Starr Gate

 

[davehsug]

Just had 001 destine Sorry Tram Full and turn away loads of passengers at Waterloo Road and St Chad's northbound. Realise most people are leaving the Pleasure Beach for the day, but surely every 12 minutes (along with the reduction of the 1 bus) clearly isn't working in the summer? They should be at least every ten if not more!

I do wonder whether it would be better to maybe alternate terminating at Pleasure Beach and just have every other tram go onto Starr Gate? Trams are nowhere as near as busy on that section of the line as the majority of the hotels are between South Pier and the central zone. North Pier to Pleasure Beach in particular suffers chronic overcrowding; perhaps services starting from the depot could obviously run from Starr Gate and then throughout the day turn back at PB?

Just back from Blackpool, and it was surprising how many trams were coming through South Pier, where i was usually boarding, with standing only from between 10am-11am. Clearly the increase in the number of good hotels South of the Pleasure Beach is having a significant impact on loading, as I've never encoutered this before.
There was also one afternoon when we boarded a Southbound in Bispham, which seemed to have only 1 conductor. He was just not collecting fares at all, actually telling people wanting to pay that he was on his own and wasn't going to do so. The tram was standing only, with significant loading, and given the flat fare, BT must have lost somewhere between £50-£100 on that single journey.
Overall, the service was just about adequate, but there is a real need for some "specials" at least between Pleasure Beach & Bispham, particularly at weekends & on Tuesday & Wednesday, to help out short riders.

 

[philthetube]

A conductor can only get fares in upto a certain level of loading, above that it becomes impossible to move up and down the tram.

 

[davehsug]

A conductor can only get fares in upto a certain level of loading, above that it becomes impossible to move up and down the tram.

If it's policy, to allow a single conductor to concentrate on safety, then no issue. This was just a very busy tram, some standing, but not rammed and he could circulate okay.

 

[philthetube]

Not policy though the conductor has to concentrate on safety, however if the tram is rammed then the conductor just ends up wedged in by a set of doors and is unable to get down the tram to collect fares.

If any conductor is regularly not collecting revenue this would be noticed in the office. Ticketer machines report everything that is going on.