In this week’s light rail news – new book celebrates 40 years of Tyne & Wear Metro, services suspended in the West Midlands, images show progress on Edinburgh ‘Trams to Newhaven’ extension, Queens Award for Heaton Park Tramway and new website for the LRSSB.
An important online resource for the sector has been launched this week by the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board.
Changes to the LRSSB website are more than skin deep, offering instant access to the latest safety documentation.
It now features an easy-to-use reference library designed to expand and evolve as new guidance and other safety documentation is published or updated by the LRSSB and other relevant organisations.
Developed with input from professionals from across the sector, the launch marks another significant milestone for the organisation as it strives to further drive-up safety standards across the sector and you can visit it by clicking here.
In other light rail news:
Tyne & Wear Metro
A new book celebrating 40 years of the Tyne and Wear Metro, has been published by an author inspired by his late father who worked as an engineer on the project.
Colin Alexander, from North Tyneside, was motivated by the memory of his dad, Jack Alexander, a rolling stock engineer who played a key role in getting the Metro trains into service in August 1980.
Colin spent 15 months writing and researching the book, which delves into the history of Metro over its 40 years of operations and draws on the testimony of many former staff who there when the network first opened.
Titled The Tyne and Wear Metro, it chronicles the development of the system from concept through to construction, opening, extension, and where it stands today, with a look ahead where it will be in the years to come, and you can read the full story here.
West Midlands Metro
All services in the West Midlands have been suspended today (Friday, 11th June) as a precautionary measure to enable inspections on its tram fleet following the detection of a fault on some vehicles. The operator is working with tram manufacturer, CAF, to restore services as quickly as possible and more details can be found here
Extension Projects
New images of Edinburgh’s Trams To Newhaven project have been released, illustrating construction progress.
Track works continue to progress at Ocean Terminal where the crossover is now in place and photographs posted on the Edinburgh Trams Twitter account this week show a birds-eye view of the work site outside the shopping centre, with the track form and tram stop taking shape.
Heritage
The Manchester Transport Museum Society (Heaton Park Tramway) has been honoured with the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.
The Manchester Transport Museum Society, a group of volunteers based in Heaton Park, Manchester have been recognised with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and is one of 241 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year.
You can read the full story here.
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