In this week’s Light Rail News Round-up – Award win for Edinburgh Trams, a song for West Midlands Metro, iconic station cube on display at Design Museum and heritage season halted due to lockdown.
A funding agreement with government has been reached to allow London Trams and Docklands Light Rail to continue to operate, Transport for London has announced.
The arrangement, currently forecast to be worth around £1.8bn and subject to actual levels of passenger revenue, will enable TfL to continue to support the capital for the remainder of the financial year.
Discussions on longer-term sustainable funding continue and you can read the full story here.
Edinburgh Trams
For the second consecutive year, Edinburgh Trams has picked up an award for ‘Excellence in Travel Information and Marketing’ at the Scottish Transport Awards.
The operator of the city’s tramway was given recognition for its unique partnership with Scottish Rugby Union which saw the two organisations working together to design an eye-catching tram wrap.
Customers were also treated to special automated onboard announcements from the popular players as they arrived and departed at BT Murrayfield. The whole team even took a tram to Edinburgh Airport for an international fixture and were ceremonially piped from the tram stop to departures and you can read the full story here.
West Midlands Metro
The tramway has been immortalised in song on a new album and video by top Black Country recording artist and disco star Tom Aspaul.
His first album, Black Country Disco, was released last month and features his affection for home sights and sounds – including a track called ‘W.M.’ that’s accompanied by a video filmed at Wolverhampton St. George’s tram stop.
Tom’s long-awaited short film to accompany his critically acclaimed debut album, has also been released on YouTube and features scenes shot at the tram stop and many other local landmarks.
The album has already received rave reviews and you can read the full story here.
Blackpool Transport
Blackpool Transport has announced a reduction in tram frequency following the announcement of further travel restrictions and the suspension of the illuminations during November.
From this Sunday (November 8) trams will operate every 20 minutes during the daytime and every 30 minutes in the evening and you can read the full story here.
Tyne & Wear Metro
An iconic station cube from the Tyne and Wear Metro is on display at the Design Museum in London, celebrating the pioneering graphic designer who created the network’s famous yellow logo
Margaret Calvert did much to shape the visual identity of modern Britain, created the eponymous, solid font which has become an iconic and instantly-recognisable symbol of Metro since it opened 40 years ago.
The Calvert font appears on the large yellow Metro ‘M’ cube logo outside stations and throughout signage within, including giant wall graphics on underground Metro platforms and you can find out more here.
Heritage
The announcement of a new lockdown, due to start today (November 5), will bring to a halt heritage operations in England. Whilst some systems have already ended their season, the new restrictions will see the cancellation of an additional weekend of activities at Crich plus the full tours program in Blackpool.
Confirming the cancellation, Blackpool Heritage Tours assured customers that any bookings from November 5 to December 2 would be automatically refunded and there was no need to contact them.
Meanwhile Seaton Tramway has announced that it is no longer able to run THE POLAR EXPRESSTM Tram Ride this year but are planning for its return in 2021.
A Spokesperson for the tramway said that after working endlessly throughout the year to provide a COVID secure event for families to enjoy, it had always been optimistic that we would still be able to offer this magical Christmas experience. However, the new national lockdown, along with the uncertainties surrounding what will be allowed after the December 2, means it is simply unable to set up and deliver this event.
All The Polar ExpressTM Tram Ride passengers are being contacted directly and will be offered a full transfer to 2021 or refund.
To be included in the next round-up, or the Member’s News section of the website, send your press releases to jamie.swift@uktram.org
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