“Grinding is taking place from today (Friday) on the horse tram tracks on Douglas Promenade ahead of the first services of the summer 2022 season, starting with the Summer Heritage Transport Festival July 27-31.
This work is being undertaken by a specialist German contractor, and is scheduled to take 10 days.
The requirement for the grinding is twofold.
Firstly, the grinding process maintains the track profile to align with the wheels of the trams; this is critical to maintain the safe operation and running of the carriages.
Secondly, the grinding cleans and removes mill-scale and other surface oxidation which, if left untreated, can increase the noise generated by carriages as they travel along the rail.”