Tramway overhead damaged by wind near Norbreck

Flexity 015 was the last southbound tram to pass before repair work commenced

Strong westerly winds along the Fylde Coast saw part of the tramway closed due to overhead line damage on Tuesday 9th April. Just before 5.30 pm Blackpool Transport posted on their social media pages "Due to damage to the overhead wires in the Norbreck area trams are only running between Starr Gate and Bispham until further notice."  Unimog 939 was despatched to attend the incident, which was located between the Sandhurst Avenue and Norbreck tram stops. The overhead crew waited for southbound service trams to clear the area before they could commence work repairing the damage, which was on the northbound line. A bracket arm support wire had snapped off, causing the bracket arm and overhead to sag downwards. After the broken tensioner wire had been successfully replaced, Blackpool Transport announced that the trams would begin running again from Fleetwood Ferry at 21:15.

The snapped bracket arm tensioner wire wrapped around the traction pole

Unimog 939 in attendance with the overhead line crew effecting repair work

The bracket arm safely fixed with a new tensioner wire