BLACKPOOL Transport has donated‘Centenary’car No. 645 to the NationalTramway Museum (NTM) in Crich, where it will be assessed with a view to turning it into a second accessible tram for visitors.
Conversion to allow it to carry wheelchair users and other passengers with reduced mobility would offer some additional flexibility as Berlin Tramways No. 3006, which returned to service after repairs in June, is currently the only such‘AccessTram’at the site.
A total of eight‘Centenaries’ were built for the Blackpool system between 1984 and 1988 by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in Blackburn. They were the last of the‘first generation’trams to be built and operated in the UK.
The first of its type to become part of the NTM collection, No. 645 entered service in September 1987 and survived as part of the fleet until November 6, 2011, the final day of traditional tram operations in Blackpool, when it failed and had to be towed back to the depot.