Boost for Blackpool as trams are saved

06 February 2008

The Department for Transport has approved £85M in funds to upgrade Blackpool’s Victorian tram, to complete modernisation of 18km of track and purchase new vehicles.

The promoters – Blackpool and Lancashire councils – welcomed the approval, which comes six years after the authorities submitted a bid, as ‘the centrepiece’ of the Government’s contribution to the regeneration of the town.

Without extra funding, the 125-year-old tramway would have had to close within a decade. Blackpool has recently spent £11.8M on ‘emergency works’ to replace the track sections most in need of repair. But the DfT threw out more ambitious plans to both upgrade and extend the tram to serve planned residential developments, which cost £114M in 2004.

Nonetheless, Blackpool council leader, Cllr Peter Callow, was jubilant at the ‘vote of confidence’. The DfT had gone cold on tram schemes, following significant cost overruns. Paul Grocott, programme manager at Blackpool, told Surveyor that work would now start on procurement on the refurbishment, which would allow ‘greater frequencies, quicker journeys, and more capacity’.

Sixteen new tram vehicles would be purchased under a new contract, which would be Disability Discrimination Act-compliant, and be able to carry more passengers. ‘We’ve been adapting the Victorian, bespoke track to national, Network Rail standards, which can accommodate any vehicle on the market, giving us a lot of choice when we go out to tender,’ said Grocott.

Passenger trips are extected to increase from the current 4M a year. Frequencies on the Blackpool-Fleetwood line would be halved from 20 to 10 minutes. But the tram, currently, is mainly used by visitors – which is why the Victorian trams would stay in operation along a central section, as ‘a big tourist attraction’.

The councils need to decide on whether the contract to be let will include operation of the tram services. Tram services are currently provided by the council-owned Blackpool Transport, which also runs buses in the town.

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