py_megapixel
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Presumably Starrgate and Fleetwood Ferry?
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Blackpool trams
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Kite159
Veteran Member
Agreed. Every 15 minutes is ok during the winter months, but during a summer where Blackpool is probably busier than usual due to domestic holidays seems to be madness.
Either people will decide not to bother using the tram and will use the bus instead. Depending how busy the bus is
Steddenm
Member
Starr Gate and Fleetwood Ferry.
Starr Gate & Fleetwood Ferry.
I dread to think what it will be like tomorrow, with thousands of Bank Holiday daytrippers trying to get from the Tower to the Pleasure Beach & back, with 1 tram every 15 minutes. Just crazy.
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.
Steddenm
Member
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.
Surprisingly trams leave Starr Gate have been busy recently towards Blackpool with them being standing room only from Pleasure Beach. They are then full and standing JBL at least Norbreck or Cleveleys, where they pick up a number of passengers again to Fleetwood. They do empty at either Fisherman's Walk or London Street due to Fleetwood Market (on market days) but have around 20 that continue onto the Ferry.
The Heritage services have also been fully booked for a number of weeks now.
The new timetable is going to cause chaos across the network, with Bus 1 also being full.
As for credit/debit card payment on the trams, it seems like this has been sidelined for the time being as all reference on tram stops saying "coming soon" has now been removed.
They have started offering return fares on the trams (not sure about the buses) alongside the single and 24 hour tickets.
Mikey C
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Will there be any extras when Fleetwood Town are at home, especially matches where there will be a large away contingent (many coming up from Blackpool), as that sounds like a recipe for chaos?
philthetube
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I notice that the new timetable increases the service to every 15 mins from half hourly up until close, I wonder if the cuts are in part to release staff for this.
Steddenm
Member
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.
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.
The Heritage Trams also seem to have a new logo on the posters that have appeared recently.
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.
Aictos
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Thanks for the update, do we have any idea when Blackpool expects the extension to be in full passenger service?
Steddenm
Member
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.
Aictos
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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 assume the WiFi hardware is either not password protected or restricted to an old passworded encryption - potentially as old as WEP?
A firmware update from the vendor ought to be enough, but they will charge...
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!
Aictos
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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.
As to Blackpool, I was 7 when I last visited so don't remember anything like a subway.
Mikey C
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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 removed
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Indeed looking back at old Streetview photos, I'd forgotten how ugly that Wilkos building was, especially the car park!
Kite159
Veteran Member
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
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
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.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Add on the fireworks, the town centre was just crazy on Saturday evening with crowds. I think even the heritage trams were forced to stop running for a time.
Car parking was at a premium with cars seemingly dumped anywhere on the back streets.
Steddenm
Member
It seems that Blackpool Transport, not just the Tramway, are suffering from driver shortages.
Last weekend the entire Route 1 (Starr Gate - Fleetwood Infinity Outlet) was suspended, and a number of cancellations this week every day, and a number of the additional Starr Gate - Little Bispham trams have been cancelled this week. Other bus routes have also had some cancellations.
In other news, there are plans to close Talbot Road overnight for the next few days to install the wires up as far as Ma Kelly's North, but with the heavy winds forecast I expect this to be delayed. The Talbot Square stop is now complete with tactile edges, disabled slabs and some funky Brush-lookalike seats installed. All it needs is the signage to go up now.
Still no update on when they will accept contactless on the trams, and some of the buses have been unable to accept it recently too (especially on Routes 74 and 75 - Fleetwood Asda - Preston).
Last weekend the entire Route 1 (Starr Gate - Fleetwood Infinity Outlet) was suspended, and a number of cancellations this week every day, and a number of the additional Starr Gate - Little Bispham trams have been cancelled this week. Other bus routes have also had some cancellations.
In other news, there are plans to close Talbot Road overnight for the next few days to install the wires up as far as Ma Kelly's North, but with the heavy winds forecast I expect this to be delayed. The Talbot Square stop is now complete with tactile edges, disabled slabs and some funky Brush-lookalike seats installed. All it needs is the signage to go up now.
Still no update on when they will accept contactless on the trams, and some of the buses have been unable to accept it recently too (especially on Routes 74 and 75 - Fleetwood Asda - Preston).
trainmananthon
Member
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.
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!
Probably. But for those that are able to do so, they will deserve it as it’s not exactly a taxing walk.
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.
Having said that, it wouldn't matter to me, I'd happily sit on a tram all day!
alf
On Moderation
That’s very heartless for my brother in law who walks on crutches until his delayed NHS op is carried out.
Steddenm
Member
Tram services between North Pier and Fleetwood are currently suspended due to a partially collapsed building near the Metropole Hotel with a tram replacement bus in operation from Pleasant Street to Fleetwood.
The engineering work at Talbot Square is also on this week connecting the North Station branch the junction there. Trams were all meant to be using the Northbound only lines this week due to the works, with bidirectional working between Tower and Anchorsholme Lane.
Due to the engineering work affecting the junction, trams can only run between Tower and Starr Gate at the moment.
The engineering work at Talbot Square is also on this week connecting the North Station branch the junction there. Trams were all meant to be using the Northbound only lines this week due to the works, with bidirectional working between Tower and Anchorsholme Lane.
Due to the engineering work affecting the junction, trams can only run between Tower and Starr Gate at the moment.
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