Blackpool Tramway
The Blackpool Tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on The Fylde in Lancashire, England. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is operated by Blackpool Transport Services and runs for. It carried 4.4 million passengers in 2024/25.
It is the second-oldest electric tramway in the United Kingdom, the first being Volk's Electric Railway in Brighton, which opened two years earlier and similarly runs on a reserved track along the seafront. These are also the two surviving first-generation town tramways in the UK, though the majority of services on the line have since 2012 been operated by a fleet of modern Bombardier Flexity 2 trams. Excluding museums, it is one of only a few tramways in the world to still use double-deck trams, the others including Hong Kong and Alexandria, Egypt. A 'heritage service' using the traditional trams operates year-round on weekends, certain weekdays and bank holidays, as well as during the Blackpool Illuminations.
History
Initial launch and expansion (1885–1910s)
The first section opened on 29 September 1885, a conduit line from Cocker Street to Dean Street on Blackpool Promenade. It was one of the first practical electric tramways in the world, just six years after Werner von Siemens first demonstrated electric traction. The inauguration was presided over by Holroyd Smith, the inventor of the system and Alderman Harwood, the Mayor of Manchester.It was operated by the Blackpool Electric Tramway Company until 1892, when its lease expired and Blackpool Corporation took over. A line was added in 1895 from Manchester Square along Lytham Road to South Shore, extended to South Pier with a line on Station Road connecting Lytham Road to the promenade in 1897.
Conduit operation, in which trams took electricity from a conduit below and between the tracks, though very successful in locations such as town or city centres, proved to be very problematic on a line so close to the coast. During bad weather, sea water washed over the track and into the conduit where it short circuited the traction supply and operated the circuit breakers in the power station. Sand from the beaches was blown across the tracks and filled up the conduits. It was constantly necessary to remove this sand, as the addition of sea water would leave the conduits filled with wet sand which short circuited the supply. Another problem was that electrical resistance was greater than anticipated and the voltage in portions of the conduit was far less than that generated at Blundell Street – 230V dropped to 210V at the junction with the main line on the Promenade, 185V at Cocker Street and 168V at South Pier.
In 1899, 550VDC overhead wiring was installed and the conduit removed. In 1900, the line was extended north to Gynn Square where it linked up with the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad. In 1901, the Marton loop was opened, connecting Talbot Square and Central Station along Church Street, Devonshire Square, Whitegate Drive, Waterloo Road and Central Drive. A new depot was built on Whitegate Drive in Marton. A line was added from Talbot Square along Talbot Road to Layton in 1902. By 1903, the promenade line had reached the Pleasure Beach.
Expansion and contraction (1920s–1960s)
In 1920, Blackpool Corporation took over the tramroad, gaining of track and three depots, two in Fleetwood and one in Bispham. The small Bold Street Depot in Fleetwood was closed and a loop constructed at Fleetwood Ferry. Blackpool Corporation also gained all 41 trams from the tramroad.A larger depot site was developed on Rigby Road in 1920 due to the original Blundell Street Depot having become too small. Rigby Road Depot was built in 1935. Along the line to Fleetwood, between Rossall and Broadwater a more direct line was built in 1925. The final tramway extension was in 1926, along the promenade to Clifton Drive at Starr Gate where a connection was made with Lytham St. Annes Corporation Tramways.
In the 1930s, manager Walter Luff, as part of a five-year plan for modernisation, introduced a fleet of modern streamlined tramcars including the enclosed Railcoaches, the single-deck open-topped Open Boats and the English Electric double-deck Luxury Dreadnoughts. These formed the backbone of the fleet into the 21st century. In 1936, route closures began with the Central Drive and Layton routes. Lytham Road closed in 1961, Marton in 1962 and the tramroad line on Dickson Road to North Station in 1963. Marton and Copse Road Depots closed in 1963 and Bispham Depot in 1966. This left the line from Starr Gate to Fleetwood, which remains. Blackpool Borough Council transferred the operation of the tramway and buses to Blackpool Transport Services Limited in 1986.
Blackpool was the only town in the UK that retained its trams and, between 1962 and 1992, it had the only urban tramway in the UK.
Difficult trading (1970s–2007)
During the 1970s, the tramway was struggling to remain open, so one-person-operated tramcars were developed in order to reduce costs. This included rebuilding older tramcars into OMO cars and Jubilee cars, followed by the purchase of the Centenary cars.Another innovation during the 1970s was the application of all-over adverts on tramcars to increase earnings. Advertising on Blackpool tramcars first appeared on the Conduit cars in the early years of the tramway, with upper deck decency panels utilised for this purpose. Some trams such as the Blackpool and Fleetwood Racks and Boxes had side panels fitted to the roof for advertising purposes. Various trams have since had adverts applied on the cab-ends and sides upon their liveries. In 1965, Coronation tram No. 310 was fitted with illuminated advert panels at the cab ends on the roof. This was followed by larger rectangular boxes in the 1960s on various Coronations, English Electric Railcoaches, Brush Railcoaches and OMO trams and remained a feature on some of them until the mid-1990s. In 2010, Brush Railcoach tram No. 632 had new advertising boxes fitted to recreate this feature. All-over adverts first appeared in 1975. Balloon tram No. 707 was the first tram to carry an all-over advert for Empire Pools. Brush Railcoach tram No. 622 was the first single-deck tram to carry an all-over advert for Blackpool Zoo in 1975. The English Electric Railcoaches, Brush Railcoaches, OMO trams and Centenary trams which carried adverts had their towers panelled over to provide more space for advertising. Various all-over adverts have since appeared on several tramcars.
Following the government's pledge in 2000 to build 25 new tram networks by 2010, a £1billion bid for a government grant was launched by Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council in 2002 to expand the tram network to St Annes to the south and new housing estates in Fleetwood to the north, with a possible further phase to Poulton-le-Fylde and Thornton. In 2004, campaigners behind the bid expressed disappointment that nothing had been done to take the plans forward in two years. By November 2007, there was no further development.
For the first time the entire tramway was closed in November 2007 for five months of essential repair work, the second phase of an £11.8million upgrade. In January 2007, the City Class 611 prototype "supertram" was being tested on the tramway when it caught fire as it approached Central Pier, causing extensive damage. The driver escaped when the electrical console in the cab reportedly blew up. The tram, manufactured by Merseyside based Tram Power, was being tested as part of a bid to replace the current trams. The tramcar was rebuilt at a cost of £150,000 but was not permitted to resume trials; it is currently scheduled to form part of a trial park and ride tram line in Preston. The same tram had derailed on 30 May 2006 at Starr Gate loop during previous trials. A Rail Accident Investigation Branch report stated that the derailment was due to wear and tear on the track with a contributory factor being the new type of running gear on the tram.
Upgrading of track and fleet (2012)
On 1 February 2008, it was announced that the government had agreed to the joint BTS and Blackpool Council bid for funding toward the total upgrade of the track. The government were to contribute £60.3 million of the total £85.3 million cost. Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council would each provide about £12.5 million. The government's decision meant that the entire tramway was upgraded and 16 Bombardier Flexity 2 trams replaced the fleet in 2012.The tramway resurfacing works and construction of a tram shed at Starr Gate meant no trams operated south of the Pleasure Beach from 2009 until the new trams entered service in April 2012 and track work at Cleveleys halted services north of Little Bispham. A replacement bus service operated.
In 2011, the line voltage was raised to 600VDC in anticipation of the arrival of the new rolling stock. The last day of running for the traditional tram fleet was 6 November 2011. The tramway reopened on 4 April 2012 with Flexity 2 cars providing day to day services. Some of the traditional fleet has been retained and some restored, with unmodified trams being part of the 'Heritage Fleet' and modified, widened Balloon trams as part of the main fleet. The depot at Starr Gate houses the Flexity 2 fleet. Rigby Road Depot, near Manchester Square, is where the traditional trams are kept.
North Station extension (2024)
An extension of the tramway along Talbot Road to Blackpool North railway station opened on 12 June 2024 following several delays. The new line connected to the Promenade line at Talbot Square, increasing the tramway's routes to three total with a new service from each of the existing termini to the station.Enabling for the extension began on 6 November 2017, with the demolition of a homeware store in September 2020 to make way for the terminus and testing beginning on 16 March 2022. A new tram terminal was provided as part of the project, with an underpass providing access to the rail network.