Skip to main content

Blackpool tramway reaches five million passengers

Blackpool’s revamped tramway system is proving popular than ever, with ticket sales showing that five million journeys have been recorded so far since April 2016, building on the increases in passenger journeys since the tramway re-opened in 2012 and topping the five million passengers mark for the first time since 1994.
March 2, 2017 Read time: 1 min

Blackpool’s revamped tramway system is proving popular than ever, with ticket sales showing that five million journeys have been recorded so far since April 2016, building on the increases in passenger journeys since the tramway re-opened in 2012 and topping the five million passengers mark for the first time since 1994.

The news comes as work progresses to extend the tramway from the promenade up to Blackpool North train station.

Not only are more people using the tram network, but passenger satisfaction is also up; according to the latest figures by the Department for Transport,  96 per cent of people surveyed saying they enjoyed the experience.

The 11 mile tramway runs from Starr Gate in Blackpool up to Fleetwood Ferry, operating a service every ten minutes during the summer season.

It re-opened in 2012 following a major replacement of the track, creation of a new tram depot and arrival of 16 new Flexity2 trams. The new trams have level boarding, making them accessible for all disabled users, allowing for faster journey times and a more energy efficient service.

Related Content

  • MTC awards funding to modernise Bay Area transit systems
    January 28, 2016
    San Francisco’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has allocated US$494 million to help more than 20 Bay Area transit agencies replace or rehabilitate aging buses, ferries, rail cars, tracks and bridges; update safety, control and communications systems; install new fare-collection equipment; maintain services for elderly and disabled passengers; and make other capital improvements. The commitment includes US$447 million of federal transportation funds, supplemented by US$47 million of revenues fr
  • Serco extends Dubai Metro contract
    October 29, 2013
    International service company Serco Group is to continue to operate and maintain the Dubai Metro. The company has signed a five-year extension to its contract with the Dubai Government Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in a deal valued at approximately US$571, with an opportunity to extend for a further two years to 2021. Serco first provided pre-launch consultancy and planning to the RTA from 2007 and began operating and maintaining the initial 10 stations on the Red Line from its official opening an
  • Hayden AI’s Renee Autumn Ray: ‘It’s about problem solving’
    December 6, 2022
    Renee Autumn Ray is senior director of global strategy for Hayden AI. She has also admitted to impostor syndrome, has no time for people who scorn the public sector and offers one simple rule about social media. Adam Hill meets her to find out what that is, among other things
  • Reflecting on five years of important ITS progress
    January 7, 2013
    Former head of the ITS Joint Program Office Shelley Row has passed the baton to a new director. Now working as an independent consultant, here she reflects on her five years at the helm of the JPO and what the future may hold for ITS in the US. During a mid-morning in Paris earlier this year, having just landed, I decided to take a trip on the city’s subway (Paris’ underground metro) into the city centre. A family with a small boy – about nine years old – boarded the same train. They were American and we st