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

  • April 10, 2014
    Columbia goes intermodal to support sustainability
    David Crawford on the ups and downs of a Latin metropolis. Medellín, Colombia’s second city and a recognised leader in sustainable transport thinking, is rapidly extending its substantial existing investment in modern mobility. It is deploying both an enhanced integrated traffic management array and the country’s first intermodal public transportation management system. The supplier of both, under separate €9 million (US$12.3 million) contracts, is Spanish engineering company Indra, a major exporter
    Read More
  • January 20, 2012
    Home based real time travel information drives reduction in car use
    David Crawford investigates a new approach to discouraging car use - the 'kitchen as travel centre'. ITS technology working together with UK planning legislation is driving an innovative 'kitchen as travel centre' approach to home design which is boosting public transport as an alternative to car use. The combination is already proving powerful enough to assuage environmentalist opposition to major urban developments. It is also being seen as a way of delivering wider social and community benefits inside an
    Read More
  • December 16, 2013
    Study finds big differences in toll collection cases
    Examination of Norway’s tolling companies finds much to praise, and some criticisms too, as Torill Eidsheim told delegates at the ASECAP conference. The cost of collecting tolls has a substantial effect on the profitability, or otherwise, of tolling companies and is within the company’s control to a far greater degree than, for instance, traffic volumes. And while it is easy to assume that all tolling companies incur similar collection costs, that is not always the case according to Torill Eidsheim, pres
    Read More
  • July 23, 2012
    Is road user charging the first stop for congestion management?
    David Hytch, Information Systems Director at the Greater Manchester Public Transport Executive, considers just where congestion pricing schemes should sit in transport planners' hierarchy of options for managing demand. On the face of it, Greater Manchester in England's proposed congestion charging scheme hit just about every sweet spot possible when it came to convincing the general public of the need for and benefits of such a venture. There was the promise from national government of almost £3bn-worth of
    Read More

Highlighted Content