The launch of the new railway magazine, Railways Illustrated, with an offer of a Virgin Trains Day Rover ticket for £15, combined with the need to drive my brother, Mark from London back to university in Manchester, gave rise to a tour of UK tramways.

The Metro | Blackpool | Metrolink | Supertram | NET | Tramlink | The Verdict!

Sunday 27th April

Drove from home to Manchester and deposited Mark at his halls in Fallowfield. Drove to the Southlands Hotel, Stockport for the night (by following part of the route of the proposed East Didsbury Metrolink extension of course).

Monday 28th April

Leaving the car at the hotel, I walked to Davenport station for the short journey on board the 0804 to Stockport courtesy of First North Western, observing the new Manchester South Signalling Centre en route. Whilst waiting for the first Virgin Train of the day, the oldest DMU in passenger service in the UK, 101685 was observed on a working to Stoke On Trent.

The 0826 to Birmingham New Street via Stoke, Stafford and Wolverhampton was taken in order to meet up with friend, Clifford Reed, joining me from Ventnor, Isle of Wight via Southampton. As Cliff arrived, a HST was at the adjacent platform and the opportunity was taken to board this to Cheltenham Spa in order to do the Lickey Incline. We returned immediately on a Voyager back to Birmingham New Street.

A short walk to Birmingham Snow Hill, via the Ian Allan bookshop followed. And so to our first tramway, Midland Metro.

Midland Metro

I've never liked Midland Metro but I descended the stairs to the gloomy terminus at Snow Hill with a keen eye to spot any improvements that may have taken place since my previous visits. First check, the PID - still showing a standard message giving the service frequency and nothing else. The tram itself was noticeably filthy on the outside, particularly on the front ends. This was confirmed when a tram going the other way was noted with "Clean ME" written on the dirt on the rear end of tram. If I were the operator, I'd be very embarrassed by this. Was it an isolated case? I don't think so - our tram had evidence that someone had cleaned the number (presumably in order to see it) but left the rest.

The ride was not great, and along the road into Wolverhampton, the road was covered in sections of the sealant between the rail and the tarmac, leaving gaping holes. The tram slowed a number of times for speed restrictions on Section Isolators and at many stops, rubbish, test messages were on the PIDs, others were blank. On board, the tram was comfortable and clean but the announcements were not working and the internal PID was showing incorrect information. There were less trams than previously dumped outside the depot at Wednesbury so perhaps Midland Metro have had some success in repairing the trams to service. On arrival at Wolverhampton St Georges, we walked through Wolverhampton to the station.

A packed Virgin Voyager service was taken to Preston, standing (or sitting on the disabled persons table) all the way. Preston had been refurbished since my previous visit and looked very nice. A quick change of train saw us on a Transpenine Express 158 to Blackpool North. I'd not been to Blackpool for over 15 years and was delighted to see such a large station with full semaphore signalling. A short walk through a windy Blackpool and we were ready for our second tramway of the day, Blackpool Trams.

Blackpool Trams

Having no recent experience, Blackpool was new to me. We boarded tram 721 at a very windy Pleasant Street. Whilst sitting on the top deck of an old tram down British streets was unique, I couldn't help wondering if it was really suitable to 21st century public transport. The journey was rough, the tram was not that clean and it looked very dated and well used, rather than pristine as at Crich. We traveled to Rigby Road and walked down to the depot. The ability to effectively wander into the depot and around the yard at will taking photos was something of a surprise to someone used to the security fences and CCTV of Therapia Lane, Croydon.

Traveling back a crew change took place. The conductor announced to her colleague that we had no driver - the old one had walked off without waiting for the new one to arrive. In Croydon, this just doesn't happen. The tram then waited around first for the driver and then while the crew joked and tried to work out when we should be leaving. We traveled to North Pier in order to briefly observe Blackpool's other tramway on the Pier.

We walked back to the station via Tower Models and boarded the 1712 Virgin Voyager service back to Crewe. This was a much quieter service and with a table seat was very pleasant. I downloaded my Blackpool photos from my camera to the Laptop, taking advantage of the Voyager's power sockets before getting on with my Final Year Project Report. Arrival at Crewe was just in time for a Virgin Trains service to Manchester Piccadilly, the 1620 ex Euston in fact. This is the train Virgin have been trying out the Pendolino with in service on Thursdays but no such luck on a Monday, despite rumours. Later, we discovered it ran on the Wednesday that week too.

We did see a Pendolino through, running parallel from Stockport into Picadilly. I was very impressed last year with the standard of the Piccadilly refurbishment when only the platforms and roof had been completed. On seeing the new concourse, I was stunned - the transformation is unbelievable. This is a fantastic station and is without a doubt the best station in the UK, and probably in Europe, and I've been to quite a lot! An escalator down from the concourse delivered us on our third tramway of the day, Manchester Metrolink.

Manchester Metrolink

I was pleased to see that Metrolink have reverted to the previous Arrival/Departure platforms at Piccadilly, to replace the crazy Eccles and Altringham/Bury arrangement which saw long delays and was very inconvenient if you wanted the first tram out. After various reports that the ticket machines were very unreliable, I was surprised that the machine worked first time and accepted a note. A second series tram was taken to Salford Quays.

Manchester is a really good system that serves the needs of the city well but it is really let down by the trams which are of such an old design. The seats in particular are dreadful and the second series trams make no improvements. The tram was busy though and several others alighted at Salford Quays. The regeneration, aided by the tram was very obvious. After a meal in one of the restaurants, we returned to Piccadilly on a modified tram from the original batch.

A brief journey back to Stockport on a First NorthWestern class 323, followed by a Taxi (the walk from Davenport didn't appeal after all our traveling), saw us back at the Southlands Hotel.

Tuesday 29th April

It was time to drive home but with a car in Manchester and a whole day to get to London, it would be a shame to waste the opportunity. Driving over the A57 Snake Pass made a change from my usual M25 journeys and we were soon at Malin Bridge, Sheffield. Following the tramway soon found us at Middlewood for the Park and Ride for tramway number four, Sheffield Supertram.

Sheffield Supertram

Previous visits to Sheffield had left me with mixed impressions. I've been stuck in traffic jams due to lack of segregation, traveled on near empty trams and seen uncared for stops and trams. A more recent visit had seen the passenger numbers turned round but the trams appeared tired and noisy. I was really surprised at the improvements which Stagecoach had managed to make this time. I'd never been to Sheffield by car before but Middlewood Park and Ride was a delight. Well organized and signed, it had some spaces but not too many and was watched over by CCTV. A ticket office was manned and I was helpfully sold a combined park and unlimited ride ticket for a very reasonable price.

A frequent tram service then conveyed us into Sheffield. The tram was very much quieter and smoother than I remembered - in fact it was better than many of the trams in Croydon. The tram was very clean inside and out - perhaps helped by a ban on food and drink on board. Another innovation was the availability of Metro newspapers in dispensers by each door. The seats were comfortable and the tram quite fast when it got the chance. Traffic was still a problem in Hillsborough but the previous deserted and run down Herdings Park terminus had improved immensely. The new platform and bridge has transformed the interchange with trains at Sheffield Station. The stops, especially in the City Centre were in excellent condition unlike some deteriorating stops in Croydon although Sheffield has no CCTV or PIDs.

Back at Middlewood, putting the ticket in and out of the barrier allows you out of the car park. Once clear of Sheffield, it was just a short drive to the M1 and we headed south but at junction 27, it was time to divert again. This time, to Hucknall where I had arranged to meet up with Steve Barber, Chair of Beeston and Chilwell Integrated Transport for a guided tour of the UKs newest tramway, still under construction, Nottingham Express Transit.

Nottingham Express Transit

My second visit to NET where construction is well advanced for a Christmas opening was interesting to see and compare with how Croydon was constructed. At Hucknall OHL work was in progress with the rest of the infrastructure almost complete. A drive down to Bulwell saw the complex nature of NET signalling which has a large number of conventional track circuits, despite being a line of sight system. The stops look very nice but the OHL uses catenery wires and looks more like a mainline railway than a tramway in the off-street sections.

We moved on to view Cinderhill and Phoenix Park stops on the branch. The extent of the regeneration is clear around Phoenix Park, a former colliery site which will be a Park and Ride site for the M1. We then drove towards David Lane crossing but as we joined a queue of traffic, the reason for delay became clear when a tram headed north over the crossing. We did a quick U-turn and sped back to Cinderhill in time to photograph it and walked round to Phoenix Park to get a closer look at tram 210. Here, we were very fortunate in being invited on board by the manager riding on the tram and were treated to an explanation of the cab controls and given the chance to ask some technical questions of NET. We were let on board on the condition of not taking any photos and so I don't have any. NET trams don't have mirrors but have cameras and screens in the cab instead.

We left the tram and drove to Wilkinson Street to view the depot and very complex track layout and then on through Hyson Green to The Forest where a huge Park and Ride car park has been built and is already almost full, with buses instead of trams in use until the tramway opens. The same layout as East Croydon is used at Forest as it will be the terminating point for one of the future southern extensions. After viewing what we could of the tramway through the city centre, including the impressive viaduct which will be enclosed with a new stop within a new shopping centre, we drove off towards Beeston. Here, Steve showed us the route of the Beeston extension which uses mainly local roads and part of a green reservation, both of which are very wide as they were planned for a dual-carriageway which has never been built. These routes will be superb and drive regeneration along the route. A Transport and Works application is to be made for these routes later in the year.

Five down, one to go, we hit the M1 again and a brisk drive saw us in Woking to drop off Cliff for his train back to the Isle of Wight via Portsmouth. I then continued back home, passing Croydon Tramlink on the way.

Croydon Tramlink

Only a brief passing of Tramlink at Addington Village (photo from previous week) but I think I've travelled often enough on Tramlink to be able to work from memory. In any case, I was back on Tramlink within a couple of days. Tramlink just gets on with the job but the trams are getting a little tired through heavy use. Although cleaners do a good job, perhaps some of problems could be solved through banning food and drink as in Sheffield. The stops could do with a Jet washing, especially East Croydon, the busiest stop. Tramlink's advantage though is the integration with other modes and the through ticketing, together with effective segregation and priority. Some trams are also getting rather noisy, but others are fine - perhaps the maintenance needs to be more effective to keep them all in excellent condition.

So, there you have it - all six of the UKs serious tramways completed within two days. I'm probably in a good position to make some comparisons. Luckily, with more and more tramways being constructed as people realise what a good job trams can do, completing all the UK systems in two days will become more difficult, especially once Liverpool, South Hants and Leeds are underway.

The Verdict

So, which is the best UK tramway?

Well, I'll start at the bottom. Midland Metro is frankly a shambles. It goes from nowhere (Birmingham Snow Hill) to almost nowhere (wrong end of Wolverhampton for Bus or Rail stations) via the middle of nowhere (Wednesbury). The single route is double track almost throughout, yet reliability is poor. The PIDs don't work, the stops are vandalised, the trams are unreliable and filthy outside. It is expensive and slow. To its credit, it looks quite nice and inside the tram, they are very comfortable for the long, slow journey!

Blackpool is nice as a tourist attraction but fails in all other areas. It is very, very slow, the ride is poor, as is the track. The system is worn out but it is operated on a shoestring budget. Much as tram enthusiasts love it, this system is neither a modern public transport service or a nice heritage line like Crich. The staff were friendly enough but they were so laid back - they didn't seem to be treating it as a serious service. So, I have to say it fairs poorly overall.

Manchester Metrolink is widely regarded as one of the best tramways in the UK and it is very successful. However, it is looking dated. The system should have been built to be low floor - it wasn't. Metrolink has struggled since with a cheap conversion of many old heavy rail stations now looking very tired. The trams may be more reliable than MidMet's but are probably the worst for the passengers. The seats are squashed and hard. The Eccles line is very nice but was expensive to build and very slow. Luckily, Manchester has secured funding for a massive expansion but it needs to look at past mistakes before spending the money on more of the same.

Sheffield Supertram has had a chequered history but now really looks to be getting back on track. The trams and stops are standing up well with time and passenger numbers are rising. I was really impressed with the improvements in ride quality, cleanliness and Park and Ride although trams still get stuck in traffic in the Hillsborough area. There are no PIDs to tell you how long to wait at stops.

Nottingham Express Transit may not be open yet but it has huge potential. The stops and trams look superb. NET has a fantastic mix of street and fast ex-railway alignments. The city centre section will be fantastic and there are advanced plans for lines 2 and 3 which will create a really good network in the future. NET is very heavily engineered though. Signalling and OHL seem rather extravagant for tramway use and the trams are very technically advanced with a novel design of bogie (or lack of!) and many new electronic gadgets like virtual mirrors. It will be interesting to see the reliability of such a complex tramway.

Which leaves us with our winner - After travelling the country, my local Croydon Tramlink has to be the best. It is not perfect but it is the busiest, the most reliable and the most integrated tramway. Through ticketing, London wide ticketing initiatives, feeder bus services, level, easy connections and working Passenger Information Displays at stops all help passengers. Tramlink isn't the best looking, although its not bad, budgets were cut and the stops could be nicer but it works. It gets on with the job and transports lots of people where they want to go reliably, safely and quickly, day in, day out, despite the challenging environment of south London with its busy traffic, busy people and local youths!

Results

1. Croydon Tramlink
2. Nottingham Express Transit
3. Sheffield Supertram
4. Manchester Metrolink
5. Blackpool Tram
6. Midland Metro

Any Comments? Drop me an Email - Click Here

Back to Homepage
Back to Croydon Tramlink - The Unofficial Website

Created: 10th May 2003
© S.J.Parascandolo. This website is my personal website, produced as a hobby as an individual. Any views, or opinions expressed within this website are my own, and not those of my employer, or any other individual, company, or organisation unless explicitly stated otherwise.