Blackpool Tramway updates

[theblackwatch]

The Heritage vehicles are still maintained/based at Rigby Road depot.

 

[Darren R]

I thought that Blackpool Transport wanted to close Rigby Road Depot and convert it into a bus depot - or am I remembering it all wrong? Didn't they insist on immediate removal from site of the vehicles bought by other groups, citing the closure as the official reason? What are Blackpool Transport's long-term plans for Rigby Road and the remaining heritage trams?

 

[BestWestern]

There was, I believe, a campaign by the Lancastrian Transport Trust to compel BT to allow them to continue to store some of their purchased cars at Rigby Road. BT had initially demanded they all be removed by a certain date and pretty much threatened to have them all towed away for scrap otherwise. The local council I think forced the decision in the end. As for BT's own fleet and it's future plans for the depot, it's a listed building I seem to recall, so the options are pretty limited. Bus parking is the intention I think, there's little else they could do with it really.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

That certainly explains the rather sorry-looking state it's in - needs a bit of tlc!

Indeed It hardly does much to promote the heritage service. No surprise there.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

A thought just occurred to me whilst checking on this thread and I wonder how the new track system copes with the ingress of wind-blown sand as a result of weather conditions. Has there been any innovative method employed in recent years for combating this ?

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

Sorry to hear this, but my experience last July was completely different. Every modern tram I saw was completely heaving right up to Fleetwood.

The Conductor said it was regularly like this on the new vehicles, which were proving to be extremely popular, and difficult to get all the fares in as a result. It also caused the journey to the end of the line to be rather slow, perhaps as a result of overtime spent at stops.

Locals and regulars will know if my, or the previous poster's, experience is more typical.....

For me the trams are packed up to air Bispham and Cleveleys where there's a mass exodus and about 5 people remain on. Vice versa the other way

 

[Cliveblackpool]

I thought that Blackpool Transport wanted to close Rigby Road Depot and convert it into a bus depot - or am I remembering it all wrong? Didn't they insist on immediate removal from site of the vehicles bought by other groups, citing the closure as the official reason? What are Blackpool Transport's long-term plans for Rigby Road and the remaining heritage trams?

I foresee (based on rumours/ hearsay/ logic & crystal balls lol)the whole lot, or majority of it being flattened. (I believe only the BTS office block is listed) It is right next to a major house building project which is about to to commence. Ex Illuminations depot, old Mecca, gasworks sites. A place of employment now being converted into housing.
The bus depot being moved to an industrial estate.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Was in Blackpool earlier in the year, impressed by the new trams but not many people using them.

That's because it's Winter and Blackpool isn't booming as such, in July they're full and standing and on one occasion (tram 007) it was like being on the tube in London in rush hour!

 

[Cliveblackpool]

That's because it's Winter and Blackpool isn't booming as such, in July they're full and standing and on one occasion (tram 007) it was like being on the tube in London in rush hour!

The Southern end of Blackpool LRT runs along the Promenade, and can be fairly deserted in Winter! Very busy Summer weekends and school holidays - if the sun is shining! They can hold 149 passengers in sardine mode, of which 72 seated.

 

[34D]

Does anyone have a track plan of the Blackpool tramway. I was there a few weeks ago, and I noted that there were a couple of roads east of the line that had tram tracks in them that weren't attached to the running lines.

 

[WatcherZero]

Closed bits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blackpool_trams.svg

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Has anyone local to the Blackpool area any news on the proposal to extend the system to Blackpool North railway station ?

 

[Muzer]

Yes, I'm rather intrigued, from an outsider's perspective - now that they've tried to turn it into more of a functional tramway than a heritage one on-the-whole, whether or not they'll extend it to make it more useful especially for rail connections.

 

[edwin_m]

Didn't they put in the pointwork at Manchester Square for a link up to North Station?

There was supposed to be a big study to look at extension options including tram-train etc. I think this was intended to be part of the EU-funded Sintropher project but its website doesn't show anything relevant.

 

[34D]

Closed bits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blackpool_trams.svg

Kind thanks. Are all the bits in purple where track remains on the ground?

 

[bluegoblin7]

No. Any track that does survive from the original town routes has been covered over by tarmac. Although from time to time it does still re-appear during roadworks, it's unlikely that you would have seen it when you were in the resort a few weeks ago.

You most likely saw the recently-severed route along Princess Street around the Foxhall area - the oldest surviving part of the tramway but little used in recent years. Although the facing points from the mainline remain (As do a trailing set), the track across the Promenade doesn't any more. The line back to Rigby Road Depot along Blundell Street does, however, survive, although it is not known for how much longer.

Attached are a couple of photos of the track work in question.

J

 

[Class20]

Didn't they put in the pointwork at Manchester Square for a link up to North Station?

The point work for a possible extension to Blackpool North station is at North Pier (Manchester Square is were the line to Rigby Road Depot diverges). There are points on both lines in both directions which would create a double track triangle. The traffic light junction next to the tram lines would need to be remodeled as the most recent changes to it have placed the road leading down from the railway station at the wrong angle. A large paved area outside the town hall now blocks the way for the trams.

The line back to Rigby Road Depot along Blundell Street does, however, survive, although it is not known for how much longer.

Some of the track on Blundell Street is still used for depot shunts. It also acts as a loading and unloading point for any road movements.

 

[bluegoblin7]

Some of the track on Blundell Street is still used for depot shunts. It also acts as a loading and unloading point for any road movements.

Yes, this will remain for the forseeable future, however the track further along to the Foxhall around Princess Street and the end of Blundell Street (basically after the tramway crosses Rigby Road) is expected to be removed as part of the regeneration project around the Foxhall area. Up to this point the track provides access to the rear of the fitting shop.

 

[Cliveblackpool]

Accident near Bairstow St at 17.15 8/7/13
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/n.../cyclist-airlifted-after-tram-crash-1-5836755
The new LRV 'trams are fitted with cctv, which hopefully will clearly show the cause.

A cyclist has been left with head and spinal injuries after a collision with a tram on Blackpool Promenade.

The incident happened close to the junction with Bairstow Street and Foxhall Square tram stop at just after 5pm yesterday.

Paramedics and police were sent to the scene while the North West Air Ambulance was scrambled and landed on the beach.

The cyclist, reported to be a man in his early 20s, was airlifted to the specialist trauma centre at the Royal Preston Hospital where he is described as having head and spinal injuries.

 

[theblackwatch]

This weekend there is another weekend of Heritage Tram operations. Vehicles in use should be:

Saturday - Centenary cars 642, 648.
Sunday - The 3 'Boats' and Open Top Balloon706 'Princess Alice'
Monday - Bolton 66, Box 40, Standard 147, Boat 602, Centenary 648 and Twin 672+682.

For more details, see http://www.blackpooltransport.com/HeritageUpcoming.aspx

 

[34D]

Or if anyone wants to ride on vintage trams inland, Sun and Mon see the first passenger runs in over a century of Leeds Horse Tram 107 - see http://www.middletonrailway.org.uk/

 

[BestWestern]

This weekend there is another weekend of Heritage Tram operations. Vehicles in use should be:

Saturday - Centenary cars 642, 648.
Sunday - The 3 'Boats' and Open Top Balloon706 'Princess Alice'
Monday - Bolton 66, Box 40, Standard 147, Boat 602, Centenary 648 and Twin 672+682.

For more details, see http://www.blackpooltransport.com/HeritageUpcoming.aspx

Excellent

How are things progressing now that BT have decided to merge their heritage operations with the LTT fleet? Which was superb news by the way!

 

[bluegoblin7]

Excellent

How are things progressing now that BT have decided to merge their heritage operations with the LTT fleet? Which was superb news by the way!

I'd leave that one for a few days if I were you, it's all flared up in the last 24 hours!

(In all seriousness, I'll drop a reply here once I'm home.)

 

[Cliveblackpool]

Blackpool Gazette
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/local/16m-tram-jackpot-1-6063224
A £16.4m windfall to extend Blackpool’s tramway from the Promenade to the resort’s main railway station was today welcomed by community leaders and transport campaigners.
The multi-million pound cash boost was announced by transport bosses as part of almost £90m of funding allocated for improvements to the road and rail networks on the Fylde coast over the next decade.
The ambitious plans include:
– £16.4m towards the estimated £18.2m total cost of improving access to the national rail network from Blackpool, Fleetwood and Cleveleys, by extending the tramway from the Promenade at North Pier to Blackpool North railway station.
– £58m towards the estimated £90m total construction cost of the new road linking the M55 near Bartle with the A583 near Clifton to improve links to the Enterprise Zone site at Warton.
– £15.1m towards the estimated £23.7m cost of delivering the A6 Broughton Bypass, a new road to ease congestion on one of the main routes into north Preston.
The tramway would go from North Pier and along Talbot Road to the railway station. It is now up to Blackpool Council to find the remaining £1.8m to fund the scheme....
***********************************************************************************************
Blackpool Buses - Lytham Road Skew Bridge (over South Fylde Railway) reopens to Buses from Sunday 6th October, after a new survey commissioned by Blackpool Council.
http://fyldebus.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/buses-back-on-skew-bridge-news-round-up.html

 

[jonesy3001]

Blackpool council have just remodelled talbot road from the prom upto the new roundabout outside wilkinsons/the old bus station and now they are gonna rip it all up again to put tracks down, is it me or do Blackpool council like wasting money?!

 

[edwin_m]

They did at least put the junction in when they relayed the track a few years back.

 

[Cliveblackpool]

A pretty penny for half a mile of track!
Atm there are no buses running that route

Hope it goes into the station yard - not very good walking through that underpass at night.

 

[edwin_m]

What will the service pattern be with a connection to North station?

I think it would make sense to run all Fleetwood trams to North with the Promenade being a separate service. As well as linking Fleetwood and all the places in between to the national rail network it would separate the timetabled Fleetwood service from the vagaries of whatever happens on the busiest part of the Promenade. Maybe even use the older trams more often on the Promenade service?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

This new line extension to the heavy-rail railway station only follows the pattern that some of the newer Light Rail systems have set by having an interchange facility.

 

[BestWestern]

Of course, none of this would be needed if they hadn't made such a hash of the bus station! It's incredible that the short hop into town can seem so daunting to anybody who doesn't want to take a taxi. The millions more they want to spend just wouldn't be required if BT could just get their bus service up together!

A simple circular shuttle, running from North station into the town centre and back, would suffice. If a tram 'interchange' is needed then just pop out by Harry Ramsdens and swing a right, head along the prom and stick a layby in somewhere with a tram stop alongside. A decent pedestrian crossing over the lines would give access to trams in both directions, high quality covered shelters with realtime info, some through ticketing and job done. Spend thousands, save millions. Alas, more blind 'tram is king' mentality it seems.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

A simple circular shuttle, running from North station into the town centre and back, would suffice. If a tram 'interchange' is needed then just pop out by Harry Ramsdens and swing a right, head along the prom and stick a layby in somewhere with a tram stop alongside.

Come what may, the service from Fleetwood should still carry on with its historical service to the southern reaches of the resort. I know people who regularly travel from the Cleveleys area to Manchester Square.