kittiwake | Clang clang clang went the trolley (Reply)

For the last 2 or 3 years the city centre has been in chaos, as tram lines were laid, road junctions changed, all the sub-ways filled in and extra pelican crossings installed in their place. But now the chaos is at an end; in November they turned on the electricity in the overhead cables, started putting up the new tram-stop shelters and signs, and began doing test runs. At first I only saw the occasional tram whirring along the road in the early morning if I was heading into work particularly early, but now they seem to be test running more or less the full timetable, at least during the day. When I'm walking through the city centre, it seems as if every time I turn a corner, I hear the metallic whir of a tram and the clang of their bells.

Originally the tram service was supposed to start in November 2003, then it slipped to January 2004 and now it is the rather more vague Spring 2004. I'm looking forward to riding on one, but I won't be using them regularly, as the first tram line that has been built heads North to Hucknall and I hardly ever need to go in that direction. I could catch them around the city centre, but I never catch buses for such a short journey (unless I'm loaded down with shopping), so that would be lazy.

But the best thing is that the tram bells clang like a real bell, a much pleasanter sound than the car and bus horns that you usually hear.