Wirral Tramway
Wirral Tramway is a heritage tramway opened in 1995 by the Wirral Borough Council and Hamilton Quarter partnership and was operated by Blackpool Transport Services until 2005 when the council took over the licence to run the tramway. The Wirral Transport Museum and tramway were set up with the assistance of The Hamilton Quarter and various volunteer groups including Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society, 201 Bus Group and the Merseyside Bus Club. At present, the service operates on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, plus school holidays. In recent years Wirral Council have sought a new owner with the funds to  develop the tramway further and talks are in progress with possible new owners. In the future, there may be extensions to the centre of Birkenhead, Seacombe, as well as certain railway stations. History. Construction of the tramway was authorised by the Wirral Tramway Light Railway Order 1994, obtained by Wirral Borough Council. When the line opened on 14 April 1995, it consisted of a single track, running largely on its own reservation, from Woodside Ferry Terminal, along Shore Road, to a terminus near Pacific Road. The depot was just before the Pacific Road terminal and the length of the track  was around . The track was laid using rails reclaimed from the Liverpool Corporation Tramways system, and there were plans to extend the line to Egerton Dock as part of a project to redevelop parts of Birkenhead docks. Two trams were specially built for the tramway in 1992 by Hong Kong Tramways Ltd. They are double deck fully enclosed vehicles, although they run on standard gauge tracks of rather than the usual Hong Kong tram gauge of . The vehicles arrived in the United Kingdom in 1993, and acceptance trials were carried out on the Blackpool tramway, where the cars ran until  the Wirral Tramway opened. Operation of the tramway was managed by Blackpool Transport Services. The tramway was extended along the north side of the Twelve Quays campus of Wirral Metropolitan College to reach Egerton Wharf, where it turns away from the river. After crossing the A554, it runs between industrial units on a segregated formation, before finally crossing Taylor Street to enter the Wirral Transport Museum. There is a siding just before the Taylor Street crossing, and a passing loop at Pacific Road. In 2010, Wirral Council reviewed their strategic assets, and decided to dispose of the Tramway, the museum  at Taylor Street, and the depot at Pacific Road, part of which had been converted to an Arts Centre. Merseytravel initially expressed an interest, but the Passenger Transport Executive ruled that they would not support the takeover because of the cost. Wirral then looked for operators who would contract to operate the tramway, and removed the requirement that the Pacific Road venue should continue to be an Arts Centre. Merseytravel reconsidered, on the basis that the tramway could become part of a larger system, serving the Wirral Waters development, a regeneration of the docks to the north of the tramway . Discussions took place with Peel Holdings, who were managing the dock redevelopment, and were prepared to donate land for the tramway. They also suggested an extension to the International Trade Centre site, following the alignment of the former dock railway. The extension would be about long, and Merseytravel proposed to use three refurbished trams from the Blackpool system, which they already owned, to provide the main service. At a meeting of Wirral Council in February 2014, it was noted that Merseytravel was no longer interested in buying the assets. Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society (MTPS) had by then produced a credible  plan for taking over responsibility for the management of the museum and tramway, and Peel Holdings were still looking at a Wirral Street Car Project, to provide a tramway service to the Wirral Waters development. The council therefore decided to pursue the transfer of management to MTPS. While this had been going on, the tramway had been forced to close in October 2011, after the council's electrical engineer retired, and although MTPS were initially told that they would not be able to resume operation in 2012, this decision was revoked, and the tramway resumed running in early January. The  tramway closed again from October 2012 to February 2013, while new safety procedures were implemented. From January 2014, the MTPS has been responsible for the tramway, and it is now run entirely by volunteers. Wirral Street Car. Wirral Street Car is a proposed extension to the current line to turn it into a feeder service for the Merseyrail network to serve the proposed Wirral Waters development with the possibility of reusing track, rolling stock as well as pre-existing routes. Vehicles. The two four-wheeled Hong Kong trams are numbered 69 and 70 to follow on from the numbering of  the original Birkenhead Corporation Tramways, the numbers of which went up to No.68. These are run from the Wirral Transport Museum in Taylor Street. In addition, trams from the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society (MTPS) are also used at various times. These are: There are also two other trams at the museum: Both require new wheelsets, and are not capable of running on the tramway due to them being the wrong gauge. The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway is a narrow gauge of 3ft whereas the Wirral Tramway is British Standard gauge of 4ft 8 1/2 inches. The museum also  displays numerous other old vehicles including cars, buses, motorbikes, cycles, a large model railway, as well as various other static displays and information about old vehicles. The museum is run entirely by voluntary staff, who can provide much information about the exhibits. The museum is one of the most comprehensive transport museums in the country and connects directly to Woodside with the Wirral Tramway.