Investigation finds fault at Scarborough's Central Tramway Company as trapped passengers rescued by firefighters

Firefighters were called to the 141-year-old funicular railway on St Nicholas Cliff when a carriage became stuck on the tram lines at 2.15pm on Friday August 19.

A total of 27 passengers were left trapped in the tram and were later rescued by emergency crews using a rope kit.

Now, following an investigation, Scarborough’s famous cliff lift company has reassured passengers that the tramway is safe and revealed the cause of the incident.

Central Tramway told The Scarborough News that the carriage came to a halt mid-journey after the safety control system detected a failure. They said if the system detects a fault then the default setting is to apply the brake and shut the system down; safety first.

In a statement, Central Tramway said: “We recently completed a major upgrade to our safety control system, which is designed to put the safety of passengers first.

“It is controlled by a series of integrated computer systems linked by radio signals. If the computer detects any issue that may indicate something is not correct, then the system will not allow the tramway to operate.

“On investigation, it appears that there was no fault in the operation. We believe that the control parameters are overly sensitive and are working on fine-tuning the system.

“One of our main priorities in our safety upgrade was to be true to the Victorian heritage of a Tramway that first opened in 1881. Modern digital control systems and Victorian infrastructure require a lot of passion and effort to successfully integrate. We are determined to make that effort to retain our heritage.”

The company said it is “confident” that the tramway is safe to operate and that they “erred on the overly cautious side; safety first”.

Central Tramway Company’s History

The Tramway’s carriages were removed from the town for the first time in more than 140 years in January as part of a major refurbishment.

The two 1970s trams, which had not been refurbished for 50 years, were stripped down and fully rebuilt by experts with new floors, ceilings, lights, seats and computer-controlled brakes fitted as the vehicles suffer badly from weather-related corrosion in their exposed cliffside location – as well as damage caused by seagull droppings.

Founded in 1881, the Central Tramway Company remains privately owned with the business investing more than £800,000 over the last 12 years on infrastructure improvements and advancements in technology. The project required 12 months of planning and lasted four months.

The cliff lift’s infrastructure dates back to the early 20th Century when the system was first converted from steam to electric power but has undergone surprisingly few technological upgrades since before World War Two.

It was electrified in 1920 and is relatively unchanged since it was first installed in the Victoria era with an almost-impeccable safety record over its operational history – one fatality in 1927.