I thought it was time Blackpool Trams had a thread.
Currently the 12 mile Tram line is closed for the first time in it's 120 year history whilst the track is relaid.
It's a massive job and is due to be completed by Easter, the new track will be able to carry the planned introduction (when the government eventually coughs up the cash) of the new Light Rail Low Floor Trams as seen in cities like Nottingham etc.
Apart from the new Trams, the other long term plan is to build an extension to Blackpool North Train station as part of the Talbot Gateway Project: http://www.reblackpool.com/reblackpool/pages/DMBlogsPage.aspx?PageID=503
Passanger wise, the Blackpool Tram system carries around 6.5 million people a year and is an essential form of transport between North Shore and South Shore and Blackpool and Cleverleys and Fleetwood.
I took some photo's last week of the current work and I will be amazed if they can complete the work and have the line open by Easter. For as hard as they are working and they are working really hard in some terrible conditions, the trackbeds are flooding before they can relay the concrete support base:
This picture is at Central Pier:
This picture is at Bispham and really shows the flooding, it's like a bomb has gone of:
no it's not a canal, it's a trambed somewhere under there:
Here is Bispham station:
and here is an engineer trying to pump the water out:
Despite of the rain, progress was being made, here is the scene out side Cliffs Hotel on the North Shore on Sunday:
and by Wednesday, most of the track was in position to be laid:
I'll add more info and pictures of Blackpool's tram network over the months to come.
One of the reasons I'm moving to Blackpool is because of the Tram system there, it's the Daddy of all tram systems.
Currently the 12 mile Tram line is closed for the first time in it's 120 year history whilst the track is relaid.
It's a massive job and is due to be completed by Easter, the new track will be able to carry the planned introduction (when the government eventually coughs up the cash) of the new Light Rail Low Floor Trams as seen in cities like Nottingham etc.
Apart from the new Trams, the other long term plan is to build an extension to Blackpool North Train station as part of the Talbot Gateway Project: http://www.reblackpool.com/reblackpool/pages/DMBlogsPage.aspx?PageID=503
Passanger wise, the Blackpool Tram system carries around 6.5 million people a year and is an essential form of transport between North Shore and South Shore and Blackpool and Cleverleys and Fleetwood.
I took some photo's last week of the current work and I will be amazed if they can complete the work and have the line open by Easter. For as hard as they are working and they are working really hard in some terrible conditions, the trackbeds are flooding before they can relay the concrete support base:
This picture is at Central Pier:
This picture is at Bispham and really shows the flooding, it's like a bomb has gone of:
no it's not a canal, it's a trambed somewhere under there:
Here is Bispham station:
and here is an engineer trying to pump the water out:
Despite of the rain, progress was being made, here is the scene out side Cliffs Hotel on the North Shore on Sunday:
and by Wednesday, most of the track was in position to be laid:
I'll add more info and pictures of Blackpool's tram network over the months to come.
One of the reasons I'm moving to Blackpool is because of the Tram system there, it's the Daddy of all tram systems.