| Birkenhead Corporation Tramways | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Operation | |
| Locale | Birkenhead, Wirral Peninsula |
| Open | 4 February 1901 |
| Close | 17 July 1937 |
| Status | Closed |
| Infrastructure | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
| Propulsion system(s) | Electric |
| Statistics | |
| Route length | 79.08 miles (127.27 km) |
Birkenhead Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Birkenhead between 1901 and 1937. [1]
In 1860, Birkenhead started the first street tramway in Britain, [2] shortly before London.
The Birkenhead Corporation Tramway company was formed through the acquisition of the Birkenhead United Tramways, Omnibus and Carriage Company (known as Birkenhead Street Railway Company Limited 1860-1877, Birkenhead Tramways Company 1877-1890) on 31 December 1900, and the Wirral Tramway Company on 8 May 1901, and the Birkenhead United Tramways Company on 24 January 1901.
Electrification of the system was undertaken and 44 tramcars were ordered from G.F. Milnes & Co. and built locally in their factory at Birkenhead. Services started on 4 February 1901.
The first closure was on 30 August 1925, when the Claughton Road route was converted to bus operation.
The remaining routes were closed over successive years until the system finally closed on 17 July 1937.
Car No 7 is preserved on static display at the Wirral Transport Museum in Birkenhead.
Car No. 20 is preserved and regularly carries passengers on the Wirral Tramway.
Birkenhead is a town and ferry port in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, until 1974, in Cheshire, it is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 88,818.
The Wirral Railway was a railway network in the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, England. Its route was from Birkenhead Park in the east of the Wirral to West Kirby in the west. A branch off this line at Bidston went north to Secombe and New Brighton. It was incorporated in 1863 as the Hoylake Railway, running from Hoylake to Birkenhead Docks. After changes of name and of ownership, it was purchased by the Wirral Railway Company Limited in 1884. The network was extended to West Kirby, New Brighton, and Seacombe, and to Birkenhead Park station where it joined the Mersey Railway, enabling through trains through the Mersey Railway Tunnel to Liverpool. In the 1923 grouping the Wirral company became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, which electrified the line in 1938, allowing passenger services to be integrated with the Liverpool urban system. Most of the Wirral Railway network is still in use today as part of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail commuter rail network.
The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line.
Woodside is a small riverside locality in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England, situated almost opposite Liverpool Pier Head across the River Mersey.
Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,298.
The history of trams, streetcars, or trolleys began in the early nineteenth century. It can be divided up into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of motive power used.
Birkenhead Transport was a bus operator in Birkenhead. It commenced operating on 12 July 1919 with a service from Rock Ferry to Birkenhead Park station, this service was extended to Moreton in the August of that year. The buses supplemented an earlier tram service.
Warrington Corporation Tramways was the owner and operator of an electric tramway system in the early 20th century serving the town of Warrington, at the time a county borough of Lancashire, England.
Southampton Corporation Tramways were in operation from 1879 to 1949. They were initially horse-drawn, but latterly powered by electricity.
Dundee Corporation Tramways formerly served the City of Dundee in Scotland. The corporation had financed the construction of a horse tramway in 1877, but had then leased it to the Dundee and District Tramways Company. They had replaced most of the horse trams with steam tram locomotives pulling trailer cars from 1884, but in 1897 the corporation decided that it would run the tramway system itself. After some negotiation and the payment of compensation, they took over the system in 1899, with a view to electrifying it. Electric trams started running in 1900, and the changeover was completed in 1902.
Between 1901 and 1949 Manchester Corporation Tramways was the municipal operator of electric tram services in Manchester, England. At its peak in 1928, the organisation carried 328 million passengers on 953 trams, via 46 routes, along 292 miles (470 km) of track.
Wirral Tramway is a heritage tramway opened in 1995 by the Wirral Borough Council and Hamilton Quarter partnership and was operated by Blackpool Transport Services until 2005 when the council took over the licence to run the tramway.
Wallasey Corporation Tramways operated an electric tramway service in Wallasey between 1902 and 1933.
Liverpool Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Liverpool between 1898 and 1957.
Dundee and District Tramways operated a tramway service in Dundee between 1877 and 1899.
Wigan Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Wigan, England, between 1901 and 1931. The first tramway service in the town was run by the Wigan Tramways Company, whose horse trams began carrying passengers in 1880. They began replacing horses with steam tram locomotives from 1882, but the company failed in 1890 when a Receiver was appointed to manage it. The Wigan & District Tramways Company took over the system in 1893 and ran it until 1902. Meanwhile, Wigan Corporation were planning their own tramway system, obtaining an authorising Act of Parliament in 1893, and a second one in 1898. This enabled them to build electric tramways, and in 1902, they took over the lines of the Wigan & District Tramways Company.
Bath Tramways Company and its successors operated a 4 ft horse drawn tramway service in Bath between 1880 and 1902. From 1903 until its closure in 1939 an expanded route carried electric trams operated by Bath Electric Tramways Company.
Halifax Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England between 1898 and 1939. After considering lifts and inclined planes to assist trams in negotiating the steep hills to the south of the town, they obtained permission to build a conventional system in 1897, and the first three routes opened in 1898. By 1905 there were 37 miles (60 km) of track and 96 tramcars, supplied by two manufacturers. In 1921, an additional route was added to the system, and the Corporation embarked on a programme of building their own tramcars, some of which replaced existing vehicles, while some extended the fleet. During the 1930s, the trams were gradually replaced by motor buses, either run by the Corporation or by private companies, and the last tram ran on 14 February 1939.
Huddersfield Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Huddersfield, England, between 1883 and 1940. It initially used steam locomotives pulling unpowered tramcars, but as the system was expanded, a decision was taken to change to electric traction in 1900, and the first electric trams began operating in February 1901. The system was built to the unusual gauge of 4 ft 7+3⁄4 in, in the hope that coal wagon from neighbouring coal tramways, which used that gauge, could be moved around the system. This did not occur, but two coal trams were used to delivered coal to three mills.
The Wirral Street Car is a proposed tramway from Bidston Dock to Woodside Ferry Terminal to provide transport links for the Wirral Waters development. The line will use pre-existing rolling stock as well as incorporating both the disused Birkenhead Dock Branch and the Wirral Tramway that already operates as a heritage service from the Wirral Transport Museum to Woodside Ferry Terminal.
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