In this week’s news from the light rail sector – More frequent services in Nottingham for the festive season, free trams in Edinburgh for Hogmanay, another busy week ahead for Manchester Metrolink, jobseekers benefit from workplace training programme on Tyne & Wear Metro, and Luas highlights impact of vandalism on customers.
NET
Nottingham tram users looking to travel into the city for late-night Christmas shopping and festive parties will benefit from more frequent trams later into the evenings, thanks to a newly launched festive timetable.
Aiming to support the city’s nighttime economy while helping people get to and from their evening plans safely and reliably, the increased timetable will run initially on Saturday, 30 November and Saturday, 7 December, before increasing to operating daily from Monday, 9 December, until Christmas Eve.
The upcoming changes also hope to help alleviate traffic during the busy holiday season while offering an affordable and reliable mode of transport to help keep locals connected. More details can be found here.
Edinburgh Trams
Customers are invited to ‘glide home’ after the Bells this Hogmanay on one of the operator’s free all-night trams to get home as quickly and safely as possible.
Proving massive success since they were first launched in 2016, the free services will operate between Edinburgh Airport and West End and Picardy Place and Newhaven. Due to street party road closures, there will be no trams to Princes Street or St Andrew Square stops.
Trams will operate up to every 10 minutes from midnight until 2 am, then up to every 20 minutes until approximately 9 am on New Year’s Day, and you can read more here.
Manchester Metrolink
Over the coming weekends, people visiting Manchester city centre are encouraged to plan ahead and leave plenty of time for their journeys, with tens of thousands expected for huge shows, big matches and the ever-popular Christmas markets.
Tomorrow (Saturday, December 7), Manchester United will take on Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford, Sam Fender will perform at Co-op Live, and Pete Tong will be at the AO Arena. On Sunday the Christmas Parade will take place in Manchester city centre and is expected to be bigger and better than ever.
Over the following weekend, the AO Arena is hosting five showings of Disney on Ice, music legend Paul McCartney plays Co-op Live on both nights and City take on United at the Etihad in the Premier League’s top clash on Sunday, and TfGM is advising that trams and buses are the best way to travel, as highlighted here.
Tyne & Wear Metro
Jobseekers have embarked on new careers at operator Nexus thanks to a workplace training programme.
The Sector Work Academy Programme (SWAP) has created new opportunities for three local jobseekers in South Tyneside, providing them with customer service roles on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
The successful candidates - Matthew Desire, Bill Iredale and Josh Hall - completed the programme and secured the roles following successful job interviews, and you can read the full story here.
Luas
The operator of Dublin’s tram network has warned of the impact of vandalism on customers' safety.
Promoting the message ‘Be wise, don’t vandalise’ it highlights how vandalism can be unpleasant and cause delays while directly affecting people with disabilities, visual impairments or reduced mobility, older people, and people travelling with young children.
It also warns that breaking glass while on the platform or a tram is dangerous for both the person partaking in vandalism and others in the area. Read more here.
LRSSB
Work to incorporate statutory health and safety reports into a fully integrated light rail incident database is progressing well, senior sector figures have heard.
Over recent months, the LRSSB has been upgrading its Tram Accident and Incident Reporting System (TAIR), which will enable operators to upload documents relating to the Reporting of Incidents, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).
During a recent meeting, members of the organisation’s Executive Group were given an update on the project that saw the LRSSB working in partnership with the Office of Rail and Road. You can find out more by clicking 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.co.uk
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