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Light Rail news roundup 17th May 2024

In this week’s news from the light rail sector –  Artistic youngster wins West Midland Metro’s birthday competition, marketing professional appointed to LRSSB team, engineering work on tram tracks in Sheffield and tiny visitor prevents Seaton tram entering service.

UKTram

Safety and security on the UK’s light rail networks will be a key focus of a major sector event later this year.

Organised by UKTram, the annual Light Rail Summit brings together sector leaders for a day of topical debate, and this year it will highlight steps being taken to protect networks from the threat of terrorist attack.

Stewart Satchell, a Counter Terrorism Security Advisor (CTSA) from British Transport Police, will be among the key speakers at the event in Birmingham on Thursday, September 19, and you can read the full story here.

LRSSB

The appointment of an experienced marketing professional has further strengthened the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board team.

Carly Swift joins the organisation with more than 17 years’ experience across a range of sectors, including public transport, retail and publishing.

No stranger to the LRSSB and light rail, she has already produced a series of safety animations for the organisation and provided graphic design services to a host of public transport operators. You can read more on the appointment here.

West Midlands Metro

West Midlands Metro would like to congratulate Pargunn Kaur Birring, who attends Wattville Primary School in Birmingham, who scooped the top prize in a design competition to mark the network’s 25th anniversary celebrations.

In the run-up to the landmark birthday, children from across the region were asked to come up with a design for an emblem to help mark the occasion, with 9-year-old Pargunn’s design chosen as the overall winner.

With well over 200 entries, the design competition has proved a huge success, and judges from the Metro leadership team had an almost impossible task of choosing the winning entry, and you can find out more here.

South Yorkshire Supertram   

Rail replacement engineering works will be carried out in Sheffield city centre from next Saturday (May 25), with further works planned in other areas of the tram network over the summer.

The works form part of an ongoing maintenance programme and are critical to extending the lifespan of one of the region’s best-loved modes of transport.

The new rail will give passengers a better travel experience – improving comfort and reducing noise in areas where tracks are currently worn – as well as reducing the risk of network closure on safety grounds, and more details can be found here.

Manchester Metrolink

A man who sexually assaulted a woman and a teenage girl on trams in Manchester has been jailed for three years.

Tahir Ali was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order that will ban him from any Metrolink tram, platform or car park.

Ali was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault at Manchester Crown Court after his offending was uncovered following an investigation by TfGM’s Transport Unit, as reported here.

Tyne & Wear Metro

Kind-hearted Nexus employees have raised over £9600 for Daft As A Brush Cancer Patient Care, following a year of fundraising activities.

The money was officially handed over at a cheque presentation at Central Metro station concourse in Newcastle last week.

Daft as a Brush, based in Newcastle, transports up to 100 cancer patients a day to and from the Freeman Hospital, free of charge, relying completely on charity fundraising to buy and run their 30 patient transport vehicles, as well as on volunteers to drive them. For the full story, click here.

Heritage

An unexpected visitor has disrupted services on Seaton Tramway this week.

Tram 4 was unable to enter service after a vigilant Inspector, discovered a tiny wren’s nest tucked away under the canopy at the centre of the vehicle, right next to a breaker.

The tramway is giving this new tram family peace for now and says it appreciates the understanding of customers as it ensures the safety and comfort of its smallest passengers! To read more, click here.

To be included in the next round-up, or the Members News section of the UKTram website, send your press releases to info@uktram.org.

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