Blackpool tramway
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The Blackpool tramway is the only surviving first-generation tramway in Britain, dating back to 1885, and serving the Lancashire town of Blackpool and its suburbs. It is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. The tramway is run by Blackpool Transport, who are owned by Blackpool Borough Council.
History
The oldest part of the tramway, along Blackpool Promenade, was opened on September 29, 1885, originally using conduit collection. It was the first practical electric tramway in the world, just six years after Werner von Siemens first demonstrated electric traction. On July 1, 1898 a new line - Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad - was opened. In 1899 the electric supply was converted to overhead power; the Promenade was later widened and the tram tracks separated from road traffic.The other surviving part of the tramway is the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad, linking Blackpool to Fleetwood on railway-type sleeper track, originally with street running at both ends; trams in Blackpool now go straight onto the Promenade without sharing space with road vehicles, except for a short street stretch, north of Talbot Square, running past the Metropole Hotel. At the northern end of the line, trams continue to share Lord Street, Fleetwood with road traffic.
Thanks to the lack of street track and extensive investment in the 1930s, Blackpool was the only town in Britain that retained its trams. Between 1962 and 1989, Blackpool had the only urban tramway in the UK. (The last English city to lose its conventional trams was Sheffield in 1960; the last in the UK was Glasgow in 1962. The opening of the Manchester Metrolink in 1989 heralded a revival.)
Operations today
Blackpool is notable today as one of the three surviving non-heritage tramways to use double-deck trams, the others being in Hong Kong and Alexandria, Egypt; they are, however, outnumbered by single-deck trams.The Blackpool tram fleet is diverse. Some of the 1930s trams are still in regular service in virtually unchanged condition; others have had their bodywork rebuilt. Occasionally, historic trams are borrowed from the National Tramway Museum for public service.
The trams run from Starr Gate in the south to Fleetwood in the north. Some services (especially in busy periods such as during the Blackpool Illuminations or Bank Holidays) start or terminate short, either at Cleveleys, the foot of Red Bank Road in Bispham, or at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. This is to allow a more intensive service through the centre of Blackpool.
During the Blackpool Illuminations specially-decorated trams carry passengers through the illuminated area.
External links
- [Metro Coastlines]
- [Blackpool Trams website by the Lancastrian Transport Trust]
- [Fylde Tramway Society]
- [Collection of Google Earth locations of tram stops] (Requires [Google Earth software]) from the Google Earth Community forum.
| Local rail transport in the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| Metros :
| Docklands Light Railway (East London) > Glasgow Subway | London Underground | Tyne and Wear Metro |
| Tramways :
| Blackpool | Manchester | Midland Metro (West Midlands) | Nottingham | Sheffield | Tramlink (South London) |
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