John Luxton
Established Member
Just stumbled across this news story posted on the BBC Derby page earlier today.
A national museum which celebrates Britain's vintage trams has been temporarily shut for safety reasons.
An inspection of the National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire on Tuesday found problems with the depot fan and the museum's main street.
This means the vehicles cannot be moved in or out of the depots and visitors cannot enter these areas.
Mike Galer, manger of the site, said the closure was "deeply regrettable and frustrating for all concerned".
The management team of the site, which operates as Crich Tramway Village, said they were liaising with contractors about a timescale for the structural maintenance.
The safety concerns, found by the Office of Rail and Road inspectors, also mean the exhibition hall, indoor play area, depot and the site's Red Lion pub are inaccessible.
Dr Galer said: "It is fair to say that our maintenance regime suffered badly during the pandemic and has further not been helped by the contractors we have asked to carry out the work having their own difficulties.
"We take safety very seriously at the museum and have taken the decision that the museum will now be closed to all visitors temporarily, which is deeply regrettable and frustrating for all concerned."
This is confirmed by a notice on the web site:
Given that the whole area appears to be an exclusion zone it makes one wonder what is the exact nature of the problem? Presumably electrical?
When I visited last September tram operations were very limited to somewhere south of Wakebridge due to technical problems.
Did some more Googling and discovered this much more informative report. Closure was on the May 17 after a spot inspection.
www.derbytelegraph.co.uk
A popular tourist hotspot in Derbyshire has been closed temporarily due to safety concerns. The Crich Tramway Village, a tram museum in Matlock, has announced it will be closed until at least Friday (May 20).
A spokesman for the attraction said: “We are very sorry, but we are closed until at least Friday 20th May due to a safety issue outside our depots, which means we cannot take our trams out, nor allow visitors to cross this area. Thank you for your understanding in this challenging time.”
A whistleblower, who wished to remain anonymous, contacted Derbyshire Live and claimed that the tramway village had prior knowledge of the safety concerns. They claimed: “They were given a report by someone saying that the infrastructure needed a lot of attention.
They did make some concession to it, in that they said they would run slower through that part of the tramway and run less open-top cars, because the overhead wire might fall down. Someone at the tramway knew and leaked the report to the rail regulator, and they came onto site and condemned their site, so that’s why it’s closed.”
However, Dr Mike Galer, general manager of Crich Tramway Village, dismissed this idea and said that Crich Tramway Village had closed of its own accord. He said: “We take safety seriously at the museum and have numerous systems to identify, track and resolve safety issues.
“The infrastructure, as we call it, formed of the track - referred to as the 'permanent way' professionally - overhead line and direct current supply switch gear is examined and serviced every winter during our closed period and more frequently as required, and the winter of 2021-2022 was no different, with hundreds of person-hours undertaken on the overhead line alone.
“This year, recognising there are some areas we need external professional assistance with, we contracted an external, accredited company to undertake a professional assessment - this must be the report mentioned. A number of issues were identified to be rectified in that report during 2022 and beyond, but we were signed off to operate.
“The company involved have been on site several times to assess and plan the investment and to design the schedule to resolve issues in the weeks and months ahead. During a scheduled visit by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) - our regulator - this report was obviously discussed.
“We are duty-bound to resolve the issues that have further been identified by the ORR as a matter of urgency. We do not disagree with them. We were not obligated to close, however the areas of concern are in areas which are sensitive and have high customer passage so we have chosen for simplicity to close the whole site temporarily while we concentrate on resolving the critical issues.”
Crich Tramway Village temporarily closed for safety
The site of the National Tramway Museum needs maintenance before it can reopen.
www.bbc.co.uk
A national museum which celebrates Britain's vintage trams has been temporarily shut for safety reasons.
An inspection of the National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire on Tuesday found problems with the depot fan and the museum's main street.
This means the vehicles cannot be moved in or out of the depots and visitors cannot enter these areas.
Mike Galer, manger of the site, said the closure was "deeply regrettable and frustrating for all concerned".
The management team of the site, which operates as Crich Tramway Village, said they were liaising with contractors about a timescale for the structural maintenance.
The safety concerns, found by the Office of Rail and Road inspectors, also mean the exhibition hall, indoor play area, depot and the site's Red Lion pub are inaccessible.
Dr Galer said: "It is fair to say that our maintenance regime suffered badly during the pandemic and has further not been helped by the contractors we have asked to carry out the work having their own difficulties.
"We take safety very seriously at the museum and have taken the decision that the museum will now be closed to all visitors temporarily, which is deeply regrettable and frustrating for all concerned."
This is confirmed by a notice on the web site:
URGENT MESSAGE – WE ARE VERY SORRY TO REPORT THAT WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL AT LEAST FRIDAY 20TH MAY 2022 DUE TO SOME SAFETY CONCERNS AROUND OUR DEPOT FAN.
PLEASE CHECK THIS PAGE AND OUR FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER PAGES FOR UP-DATES.
Given that the whole area appears to be an exclusion zone it makes one wonder what is the exact nature of the problem? Presumably electrical?
When I visited last September tram operations were very limited to somewhere south of Wakebridge due to technical problems.
Did some more Googling and discovered this much more informative report. Closure was on the May 17 after a spot inspection.
Popular Derbyshire museum and tourist hotspot closed over safety concerns
The whole site has been closed temporarily
A popular tourist hotspot in Derbyshire has been closed temporarily due to safety concerns. The Crich Tramway Village, a tram museum in Matlock, has announced it will be closed until at least Friday (May 20).
A spokesman for the attraction said: “We are very sorry, but we are closed until at least Friday 20th May due to a safety issue outside our depots, which means we cannot take our trams out, nor allow visitors to cross this area. Thank you for your understanding in this challenging time.”
A whistleblower, who wished to remain anonymous, contacted Derbyshire Live and claimed that the tramway village had prior knowledge of the safety concerns. They claimed: “They were given a report by someone saying that the infrastructure needed a lot of attention.
They did make some concession to it, in that they said they would run slower through that part of the tramway and run less open-top cars, because the overhead wire might fall down. Someone at the tramway knew and leaked the report to the rail regulator, and they came onto site and condemned their site, so that’s why it’s closed.”
However, Dr Mike Galer, general manager of Crich Tramway Village, dismissed this idea and said that Crich Tramway Village had closed of its own accord. He said: “We take safety seriously at the museum and have numerous systems to identify, track and resolve safety issues.
“The infrastructure, as we call it, formed of the track - referred to as the 'permanent way' professionally - overhead line and direct current supply switch gear is examined and serviced every winter during our closed period and more frequently as required, and the winter of 2021-2022 was no different, with hundreds of person-hours undertaken on the overhead line alone.
“This year, recognising there are some areas we need external professional assistance with, we contracted an external, accredited company to undertake a professional assessment - this must be the report mentioned. A number of issues were identified to be rectified in that report during 2022 and beyond, but we were signed off to operate.
“The company involved have been on site several times to assess and plan the investment and to design the schedule to resolve issues in the weeks and months ahead. During a scheduled visit by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) - our regulator - this report was obviously discussed.
“We are duty-bound to resolve the issues that have further been identified by the ORR as a matter of urgency. We do not disagree with them. We were not obligated to close, however the areas of concern are in areas which are sensitive and have high customer passage so we have chosen for simplicity to close the whole site temporarily while we concentrate on resolving the critical issues.”
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