In this week’s news from the light rail sector – Records set in Manchester as music fans flock to the city and Edinburgh Trams also prepares to rock, birthday celebrations for Luas and services hit by industrial action in Sheffield.
Recommendations for effective testing for drugs and alcohol are highlighted in a new guidance document published by the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board.
The guidance has been developed following consultation with a working group led by UKTram, with members of its Operations Group providing the LRRSB with a scope of topics to be included and current ‘Best Practice’ approaches.
In the new document, responsibilities of staff and managers to develop and enforce policies covering alcohol, illicit recreational drugs, prescription medicine and even over-the-counter remedies that may have an impact on the performance of safety-critical tasks are also put under the spotlight.
For the full story, click here.
In other light rail news:
Edinburgh Trams
Rock legends The Eagles will be celebrating half a century since they first hit the road when they take to the stage at the BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh next week – and the city’s tram network has lined up a great travel offer that’s sure to be a hit with fans.
With services from every seven minutes throughout the day, Edinburgh Trams will be boosting frequency to every three minutes before and after the landmark gig on Wednesday, June 22.
Fans can also take advantage of more than a thousand free parking spaces at the Ingliston Park & Ride and you can read the full story here.
Sheffield Supertram
Due to industrial action being taken by a number of Network Rail staff, the operator has announced that it will be unable to operate the normal Tram Train timetable between June 21 and 25.
On Tuesday 21, Thursday 23 and Saturday 25 June, an hourly Tram Train service will operate with the first departure from Cathedral at 07:27 and the first departure from Parkgate at 07:59. The last departure from Cathedral to Parkgate will be at 17:27 with the last departure from Parkgate to Cathedral at 17:59.
On Wednesday 22 and Friday 24 June, the first service from Cathedral to Parkgate will be 07:00 and from Parkgate to Cathedral at 07:32. A normal service will operate thereafter on these days and full details can be found here.
Manchester Metrolink
Metrolink’s pay-as-you-go contactless system hit a major new milestone following one of the busiest weekends in transport history for Greater Manchester.
More than ten million contactless journeys have now been made on Metrolink since its initial launch in July 2019.
The record number was reached last Saturday (June 11), in a week that saw a series of high-profile events across Greater Manchester, with an estimated 400,000 music-lovers hit the region to see performances by some of the world’s biggest musical acts.
Over the weekend there was a record number of customers using Metrolink with a total of 211,900 journeys taken on the network – with around 82,000 of those journeys being made using the contactless payment system. You can read the full story here.
Tyne & Wear Metro
The second phase of work on the new £70m Gosforth Metro depot has been successfully completed.
Three more new sections of line have been installed on the site so that the new Metro trains can serve the state-of-the-art facility while more of the old depot building, which dates back to 1923, is set to be demolished this month.
The new depot will be home to the new Metro train fleet, which is set to start arriving in North-East England at the end of the year and you can read more here.
Luas
On Thursday, June 30, the Luas Green Line is set to celebrate its 18th Birthday and to mark the occasion, the operator is giving away ten €50 digital One4All vouchers.
Since the Green Line carried its first passengers, Luas has grown a lot with the Luas Cross City expansion in 2017, the network now runs from Brides Glen on the southside to Broombridge on the northside, totalling 24.5 km long and 35 stops.
To reads more about the anniversary celebrations, including details of the birthday competition, click here.
To be included in the next round-up, or the Members News section of the UKTram website, send your press releases to info@uktram.org.