£1.1m of work needed on Blackpool tramway

A report to Blackpool Council’s executive says the work is necessary to keep the tramway, which reopened in 2012 after a £100m upgrade, running.

It says: “A recent commissioned track survey highlighted a number of areas of work that need to be undertaken in the short to medium term to ensure the tramway can continue to operate to the required standards.”

The report adds: “The tramway is a vital economic asset for Blackpool and Lancashire, which was used by 4.8 million passengers in 2019/20.

“Its state of the art Bombardier Flexi 2 trams are a plus for Blackpool and Lancashire County Council together with the heritage vehicles still in use and

maintain the tramway as a Lancashire, Blackpool and Fylde Coast icon.

“In order to ensure that the tramway system continues to operate and to extend its operational life, works are required beyond that undertaken during day to day maintenance.”

The total cost of the work is £1.1m, with the bulk of that being £900,000 to be spent on rail and new under run protection units.

These are required “as a result of new health and safety guidelines at crossing points on the track by the Light Rail Safety Standards Board.”

The additional £200,000 needed for the scheme will come out of existing revenue.

Blackpool Transport said it could not comment on the work which needed to be done.

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