In this week’s UKTram light rail news round-up: networks across the UK pay tribute to servicemen and women with free travel and remembrance events, Manchester introduces simpler fares, Nottingham reports a rise in tram use during the city’s Goose Fair, Nexus announces essential line works and Crich Tramway Village celebrates a restoration milestone. Plus, TfL marks its 25th anniversary with festive prizes and a special Poppy Day partnership.

Representatives from across the light rail sector gathered in Leeds this week for the Focus on Light Rail event, jointly hosted by Rail Forum and the UKTram, to explore opportunities and challenges across the evolving public transport landscape.

UKTram’s Operations Manager, Steve Duckering, represented the UK’s light rail sector at the 81st UITP Light Rail Committee Meeting in Toronto from 27th to 29th October 2025, joining global leaders to exchange innovation and operational insights.

In this week’s UKTram light rail news round-up: Edinburgh Trams celebrates over one million customer journeys using Tap On, Tap Off, Whitley Bay Metro canopy refurbishment earns industry recognition, DLR network upgrades ahead of new fleet and NET Nottingham Trams awarded at global industry event. Plus, Blackpool Heritage tram tours extended to November, planning approval for Luas Finglas extension and Trafford Palazzo partners with TfGM for Metrolink stop rebrand.

Codemakers Limited, the parent company of Metrotech, has been recognised at this year’s Computing - Cloud Excellence Awards, receiving the ‘Highly Commended’ distinction in the Most Innovative Cloud Product or Service category for its flagship product, Permit+.

Engineers and operators from across the UK and Ireland's light rail networks met in Birmingham at the WMCA offices last month to share updates and discuss sector-wide priorities and opportunities ahead of the annual UKTram and LRSSB Light Rail Summit.

UKTram Lead Engineer, Phill Terry, attended a well-subscribed international webinar this month, exploring best practice in obsolescence management - a growing challenge across transport engineering and supply chains.

The Mixed Use Railway Initiative has been recognised with the ‘Team of the Year’ award at the 2025 Global Light Rail Awards, highlighting the strength of collaboration across the rail and light rail sectors. The initiative was originally submitted under the ‘Vision of the Year’ category, reflecting its ambition to reshape how rail systems can better connect communities. Judges instead recognised the collective effort behind its development, awarding the team for its cross-ind

In this week’s light rail news round-up: Edinburgh Trams receives recognition at the Cloud Computing Awards, South Yorkshire’s newest Tram Train station reaches major construction milestone, West Yorkshire Combined Authority invites views on 2025–26 budget. Learn more about the new Community Rail Partnership launched in South East Wales, the rare 1981 Tyne and Wear Metro film discovered on eBay and heritage tramway events over half term.

UKTram Managing Director, James Hammett, joined industry leaders at the Rail Forum Annual Conference 2025 on the 9th of October, held at Doncaster Racecourse. This year’s theme, “Unleashing the Value of UK Rail”, brought together voices from across the sector to explore the future of integrated transport and innovation.

Building on discussions from the most recent Centre of Excellence (CoE) meeting, UKTram has further strengthened engagement with the British Standards Institution (BSI) by attending the Innovation Management Summit 2025, held on Wednesday 8th October at London’s Science Museum.

In this week’s round-up: Metro steps towards contactless travel with smart validators, Supertram network investment planned over October half-term , while Blackpool Transport has just the ticket for half-term days out. Learn more about the UK-first approach to keeping travelling public safe in Greater Manchester, a train tattoo honouring the historic Metro fleet and the newly appointed Chair for the LRSSB Heads of Safety Group.