py_megapixel
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Presumably Starrgate and Fleetwood Ferry?SGTE and FFRY?
Presumably Starrgate and Fleetwood Ferry?SGTE and FFRY?
The new timetable has been mentioned a few times in the depot and also on the trams by the staff.
Blackpool is busier than ever and reducing the day timetable to a 15 min frequency from SGTE to FFRY is ridiculous and running the peak shuttle from SGTE to LBIP in the evening is going to be carnage, especially as the evening heritage trams will be out too.
Starr Gate & Fleetwood Ferry.SGTE and FFRY?
SGTE and FFRY?
Currently trams from Fleetwood during the peak are about 30% full leaving London Street, heavily picking up at Cleveleys to standing room only, busy again at Norbreck, Bispham and Cliffs Hotel where they have been known to put "Sorry, tram full" on the destination matrix. They do empty at North Pier and Tower but pick up at Tower to standing room only until Waterloo Road, South Pier or Pleasure Beach.Presumably Squires Gate and Fleetwood Ferry.
Meanwhile, a few weeks ago in peak holiday season I was on a peak time tram at Fleetwood, and the only passenger. Barely full until Blackpool proper, and at no Point were all seats taken.
Thanks for the update, do we have any idea when Blackpool expects the extension to be in full passenger service?Some of the wires have now gone up at the Talbot Road/North Pier junction, and the disabled markers have been laid at the Talbot Road stop.
The Heritage Trams also seem to have a new logo on the posters that have appeared recently.
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As for current loadings, day services have been busy but not rammed full as they have been in the last month or so. The evening services have been busy, and heritage have sold out on a lot of their tours.
Thanks for the update, do we have any idea when Blackpool expects the extension to be in full passenger service?
Beating in mind I was last in Blackpool in 1991 and haven't been back since, when you refer to the underpass do you mean filled in as I think they did to one at Hatfield (Herts) by the station there?Not yet. They are doing a lot of work up at the Blackpool North Interchange site (apparently the name of the station has officially yet to be confirmed, but will possibly be called Blackpool North Gateway). The underpass has now been completely covered from the station and High Street remains closed.
As for contactless cards on boardx one of the guards said they have no firm plans on when to accept them as they have had major problems with the Ticketer machines not connecting to the Wifi on board the trams as it's not secure enough.
I assume the WiFi hardware is either not password protected or restricted to an old passworded encryption - potentially as old as WEP?As for contactless cards on boardx one of the guards said they have no firm plans on when to accept them as they have had major problems with the Ticketer machines not connecting to the Wifi on board the trams as it's not secure enough.
Beating in mind I was last in Blackpool in 1991 and haven't been back since, when you refer to the underpass do you mean filled in as I think they did to one at Hatfield (Herts) by the station there?
Sorry but never knew there was a underpass there seeing as it's been over 3 decades since I last graced the town with my presence.
As to the name of the station why not just call it Blackpool North or rename the rail station to Blackpool Interchange so both the railway and tram stop share the same name?
I'm sure there was a underpass that was filled in as part of the refurbishment of the station quarter, there is another subway which connects Hatfield House with Hatfield station.Until very recently, there was a pedestrian underpass outside Blackpool North that went under High Street and into the area formerly occupied by the Wilkos car park. Both have now gone. However you can still see them on google maps.
Having used Hatfield (Herts) station for 20 years, I must admit not remembering there being an underpass there though!
Looking at a recent Streetview photo, the underpass is blocked up, but the sign showing people the way to Ma Kelly's hasn't been removedUntil very recently, there was a pedestrian underpass outside Blackpool North that went under High Street and into the area formerly occupied by the Wilkos car park. Both have now gone. However you can still see them on google maps.
Having used Hatfield (Herts) station for 20 years, I must admit not remembering there being an underpass there though!
There have been a number of cancellations on the trams over the past 10 days or so too due to crew shortages, meaning lots of 30 minute gaps and some of 45 minutes.Was in Blackpool this weekend and pretty much every tram I saw in the centre area (ie Tower/Central Pier) was showing as "Sorry tram full". They wouldn't stop at the stops if nobody requested it but if someone requested it, most passengers were ignore the "tram full" message and will try and board as who knew when the next tram would be (and if that one would have space)
Didn't help that people didn't move down inside the tram and would stand by the doors
Although I did overhear a conductor mentioning they were extra busy due to the bus route 1 not running
Yes, I saw an article in the Blackpool Gazzette about the cancellations due to driver shortages. Illuminations weekends are busy enough, I can only imagine what the queues must be like.There have been a number of cancellations on the trams over the past 10 days or so too due to crew shortages, meaning lots of 30 minute gaps and some of 45 minutes.
The usual "peak" 10 minute Fleetwood-Starr Gate service struggles to cope on busy days in my experience, never mind the 15 minute daytime service currently in operation.
I decided not to even try to use the Flexity service on the Saturday just gone, instead getting a round trip ticket on the Heritage trams in order to guarantee I would actually be able to board a tram at some point during the day!
Yes, I saw an article in the Blackpool Gazzette about the cancellations due to driver shortages. Illuminations weekends are busy enough, I can only imagine what the queues must be like.
Won't that be a bit annoying for a passenger going from the Tower to Plasant Street? It'll take a lot longer!Pleased to say that we now accept contactless payments on the trams too. As a guard/conductor this is a huge relief for us and its making our jobs 10 times easier, a lot quicker and we're able to get more revenue as a result.
The latest I heard was that when Blackpool North finally opens, services will still be Starr Gate - Fleetwood Ferry throughout the day, with every other tram going to North Station. How true this is I don't know, but that's what we got told in training school.
I've only been a guard since September so don't know what summer was like, but certainly since the illuminations timetable has come into place it's actually not been too bad - OK Market days during the day trams are heaving to Fleetwood (I had a non-stop run from South Pier to Fisherman's Walk during half term on a market day), but otherwise during they day it's fairly quiet, even during the extremely busy half term. The Little Bispham shuttles imo could've done with starting an hour or so earlier at 1600, as from that point right through til 2100 every tram is extremely busy - a number of times I've issued/scanned over 200 tickets one way from Starr Gate to Little Bispham to give an idea of how busy they can be.
Won't that be a bit annoying for a passenger going from the Tower to Plasant Street? It'll take a lot longer!
Lots of people with mobility issues visit Blackpool regularly, me amogst them and I'd find even that limited walk impossible! It's one of the reasons we always buy a weekly pass! Anyhoo, i'm assuming that the "via North Station" trams will display that information, and locals and regular visitors will catch on quickly and avoid them if travelling through.Probably. But for those that are able to do so, they will deserve it as it’s not exactly a taxing walk.
Probably. But for those that are able to do so, they will deserve it as it’s not exactly a taxing walk.
That’s very heartless for my brother in law who walks on crutches until his delayed NHS op is carried out.