Blackpool International Airport - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Oxonhutch]

Thanks BNM.  The irony is that these semaphores along with the whole station and branch to Blackpool North were tabled for extinction under the Beeching proposals for the Fylde coast.  Central Station in the middle of Blackpool^s Golden Mile was to remain the main railway entry to the resort along with the south Fylde route though Lytham-St Anne^s.  Central^s engine shed was modernised and that at Blackpool north closed.

Alas a greedy eye was cast by the good burghers of Blackpool on the prime real estate owned by British Railways in the heart of their town and a new plan was hatched that shocked the refined gentry of adjacent St Annes-on-the-Sea ^ in whose parish the airport lies by the way. At the last minute, Blackpool North was reprieved and the devastating news that it was Central that was to close was released. For several decades the ex-railway centre of Blackpool lay derelict and bare, and the south Fylde line, which includes the airport^s Squires Gate station, line slowly atrophied.  First it lost its expresses to London and Manchester then its double track and finally most of its station buildings.  Cut back to Blackpool South, it became a pacer shuttle along an un-signalled, lengthy siding.  I was there ^ I remember it well.

In its reprieve, Blackpool North suffered too.  What you see in the photographs are the more modern excursion platforms; the main station entrance on Talbot Road ^ which lost its trams in part because of impending closure ^ was also demolished and the walk to the promenade increased by several hundred yards. On a positive note, there are plans afoot to bring trams back to the station and reinstate the missing link. 

Various metro proposals, as an extension to Blackpool^s tramway  system, have been made for the South Fylde line over the years.  Alas the line lives out its quiet dotage with an hourly shuttle to fairest Colne on the hill.

[grahame]

Fascinating review of Blackpool' railways - thanks Oxonhutch.  Not a history I've followed, but I have wondered how it came to be as it is having had reason to go to Blackpool several times in the past couple of years.  My wife is usually pretty hardy in terms of going into places / areas, but she was concerned for our safety when we arrived at North and walked down from there to the front.   Approaching (because I wanted to try it out) via South on a later visit, the description "long siding" is appropriate - and I know that there is a desire to get a loop in there.   And the walk to my final destination (between South and the centre) was through an area I would describe as even less welcoming than the North one.

Blackpool as a whole (never mind just the railway) makes an interesting study.

[TonyK]

Various metro proposals, as an extension to Blackpool^s tramway  system, have been made for the South Fylde line over the years.  Alas the line lives out its quiet dotage with an hourly shuttle to fairest Colne on the hill.

Work on the extension to BPN starts next year, with actual construction slated for 2017, and the first tram to run by 2018. Transport for Lancashire, the transport arm of the LEP^» (Local Enterprise Partnership - about), is providing most of the cash. When the tram route was re-laid a few years ago, it was done to tram-train standards, the details being explained in the report by Sintropher into the project. A set of points to nowhere were installed outside North Pier, to save having a lengthy closure, and to remind everyone they are serious about the extension.

Much as I liked the old trams, the new Flexity 2s are excellent. A lot of stops were removed to cut the journey time, and they fair zip along the sea front. I went to Fleetwood on Friday, and later took my grandchildren to see the lights. They enjoyed the ride, too. A picture from ZimFlyer shows them on Day One of operations:

[JayMac]

As we have a temporary diversion away from the airport and onto the trams, why not a few more pictures?

From my trip to Blackpool in July:

A set of points to nowhere were installed outside North Pier, to save having a lengthy closure, and to remind everyone they are serious about the extension.

A picture of that junction:


Couple of Flexity Trams:



And a great art installation on the Prom, the Comedy Carpet:

[TonyK]

And you made it to Fleetwood! North Euston or Mount?

[JayMac]

For a pint? Neither. I chose the 'Spoons.

I was staying in Blackpool and took the tram to Fleetwood for the ride.