Nottingham's tram operator has confirmed a carriage collided with a pole in Bulwell as services continue to face disruption. NET says there are no tram services between Wilkinson Street and Hucknall because of an incident at the Bulwell tram stop on Monday night (June 12).
There had been multiple unconfirmed reports that Monday's extreme weather, including heavy rain and lightning, had caused a tram to derail. But NET says the tram did not derail and that it is too early to say if the weather was a factor in the incident.
Confirming the details of what happened, an NET spokesman on Tuesday said: "Following Monday's incident at the Bulwell stop involving one of our trams and a pole supporting overhead line equipment, services were suspended between Wilkinson Street and Hucknall.
"Although an investigation into the incident is ongoing, we understand that a set of points diverted one of the carriages onto a different section of line than the rest of the tram. Before the tram could come to a stop one of the carriages came into contact with the pole.
"Once all passengers were safely evacuated we began a tram recovery operation, although this may take some time to complete due to the overhead line damage." Services between Wilkinson Street and Hucknall remained affected as of Wednesday afternoon, with replacement bus services having been arranged.
Starting at 6am from the Hucknall tram stop, buses are running every 20 minutes between Hucknall and Cinderhill Island. Customers will then need to use the tram from Cinderhill heading towards the city centre and Clifton South.
The NET spokesman added: "At this stage it is not possible to say if the extreme weather in the area was a factor, and we cannot offer further comment on the circumstances surrounding the incident until the conclusion of the investigation."
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