Crich Tramway Village - Access Tram Fundraiser
Crich Tramway Village is well known for its amazing collection of vintage electric tramcars, but staff and volunteers at the museum are facing a new challenge – how to ensure visitors who are less physically able can ride together with their friends and family on the tramway.
The fleet of old tramcars, many of which are over 100 years old, offer an exciting experience for visitors of all ages, but they were built for an age when there was little consideration for passengers who might find it difficult climbing up the steep steps onto the lower deck, let alone the top of a double-decker. So now, the popular Derbyshire museum has launched a public appeal to help create a super Access Tram. This will be able to transport several wheelchair users as well as up to 40 other seated passengers.
For many years the museum operated an ‘on demand’ tram ride for wheelchair users, with a small converted East Berlin tramcar, but this veteran tramcar had to be withdrawn for technical and safety reasons. Learning the lessons from this, the plan is for the new Access Tram to be resurrected from one of the last British designed ‘old generation’ single-decker vehicles, built for Blackpool seafront in the 1980s. This will have a larger capacity ground-level wheelchair lift, and the museum’s experienced workshop team is even exploring the possibility of adapting controls to allow wheelchair users to drive the tramcar under supervision.
The museum’s Fundraising Manager, Roger Shelley, said:
“If we can build safe positions for disabled drivers into this vehicle, it will be the first time this experience can be offered on a heritage tramway in this country. It’s an exciting prospect for our charity, and we’re looking for local firms to get on board with sponsoring the project and its wraparound colour scheme.”
Zoe Etheridge, one of the museum’s volunteers, who uses a wheelchair and crutches following an accident in 2017, added:
“I am really looking forward to having a tram I can ride with my family and friends that won’t cause me extra pain that I get from trying to get on board one of the historic trams. I’m even more excited at the prospect of being able to drive it.”
The tramway is looking to raise £150,000 to complete the project by spring 2026, and is inviting the public to get on board by donating on-line to www.tramway.co.uk/contact/make-a-donation or by buying Derby Community Lottery tickets that support the museum’s parent charity, The Tramway Museum Society at www.derbycommunitylottery.co.uk/support/crich-tramway-village
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