Double-decker tram

Last updated
Blackpool "Jubilee" Class No. 762, the last double-deck tram built in the UK Blackpool Jubilee class tram no. 762 at Pleasure Beach, Promenade, Blackpool - geograph.org.uk - 2527386.jpg
Blackpool "Jubilee" Class No. 762, the last double-deck tram built in the UK
Hong Kong trams HKtram-crossing.JPG
Hong Kong trams
Alexandria double-deck tram Alexandria Tram 215.jpg
Alexandria double-deck tram
London Metropolitan Tramways "Feltham" Car No. 331. It was built in 1929 and was one of three prototypes. It was sold to Sunderland in 1937 and is now preserved at the National Tramway Museum, Crich, UK. London Metropolitan Tramways "Feltham" Tram No.331, National Tramway Museum, Crich.JPG
London Metropolitan Tramways "Feltham" Car No. 331. It was built in 1929 and was one of three prototypes. It was sold to Sunderland in 1937 and is now preserved at the National Tramway Museum, Crich, UK.

A double-decker tram or double-deck tram is a tram that has two levels or decks. Some double-decker trams have open tops. Double-deck trams were once popular in some European cities, like Berlin and London, throughout the British Empire countries in the early half of the 20th century including Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington in New Zealand; Hobart, Tasmania in Australia and in parts of Asia. They are still in service or even newly introduced in Hong Kong, Alexandria, Oranjestad, Blackpool, Birkenhead, Franschhoek, Auckland and Douglas, mostly as heritage or tourist trams.

Contents

History

Heyday

The earliest double-deck trams were horse-drawn. The first electric double-deck trams were those built for the Blackpool Tramway in 1885, where Conduit tramcar No. 4 is the sole survivor of its class and is preserved at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, UK. They were common in the United Kingdom until the 1950s. London Transport was a heavy user of double-deck trams until the system closed in 1952. Apart from the Blackpool tramway, the Glasgow Corporation Tramways was the last urban British tramway to close, in 1962.

In the United States, double-deck tramcars were used by the Pittsburgh Railways (streetcar / interurban) between 1913 and 1924, a rare use of such tramcars in the country. [1]

From 1910 to 1964, double-deck trams were in use in Mumbai, India (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking). They were also in use in Johannesburg, South Africa, where trams were operational from 1906 to 1961.

Preservation

Several tramcars have been preserved at the UK's National Tramway Museum, Beamish Museum, Black Country Living Museum, East Anglia Transport Museum, Heaton Park Tramway, Seaton Tramway, Summerlee Museum and the Wirral Transport Museum, where the cars are still in operation. Some have been preserved at New Zealand's Ferrymead Museum in Christchurch and MOTAT Museum in Auckland, which operates restored Wellington double-deck tramcar No. 47, which operated in 1906 [2] and also has Auckland double-deck tramcar No. 17 in storage. The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway on the Isle of Man, opened in 1876 and continuously operating since then (with the exception of WWII), still operates the only remaining horse-drawn double-deck tramway cars in the world, as a heritage tramway. [3] Blackpool Tramway still operates several double-deckers on weekends, of which there are several Balloon Cars from the 1930s (some of them rebuilt later) and one Standard Car from the 1920s. Hong Kong Tramways operates a very frequent service (trams run approx. every two minutes) on three routes on a main line and a side line to Happy Valley, only served with double deckers built from the 1960s to 2018.

1960s

The last double-deck tram built in the UK was Blackpool "Jubilee" Class No. 762, which entered service in 1982. However, it was originally built in 1935 as Blackpool "Balloon" Class No. 251, later renumbered No. 714. Its rebuild as No. 762 gave it a longer body and its pointed ends were replaced with rectangular ones. It was the second and final rebuild of two Blackpool "Balloon" tramcars into "Jubilee" tramcars, following on from "Jubilee" Class No. 761. Unlike No. 761, "Jubilee" tramcar No. 762 retained its central doors as exits for improved passenger flow at stops. For these reasons, it was considered to be an entirely new tram and on this basis, when it was retired in 2011, it was gifted to the National Tramway Museum in Crich.

Recent cars

A few of the tramcars in the Alexandria tram system in Egypt are double-deckers built by Kinki Sharyo and Fuji Heavy Industries in Japan in 1975-1995. However, they are unpowered trailers that are towed/pushed by a powered tram as a steering car in a three car train.

In 2012, a new tram service, solely operated with double-decker cars, was opened in Franschhoek, South Africa, as the Franschhoek Wine Tram. It serves as a tourist tram connecting several wineries on eight lines (all of them partly served with so-called "tram buses", the trams only operating as a backbone) and operates on the restored tracks of an old railway line, which was opened in 1904 and closed in the 1990s. The cars were built by DCD Rolling Stock, South Africa, for the opening in 2012, but modelled after a Blackpool car from the 1920s. [4]

A service in Dubai, the Dubai Trolley with hydrogen-fuelled double-deck trams in vintage style with an open upper deck, built by US manufacturer TIG/m, was announced in 2009 and opened in 2015 on a single-track line of 1.1km with plans for further extension, but frequently suspended due to the heat and according to some sources finally closed by 2019, the tracks barred by poles, the depot used as a shopping center, and the only car on public display.

The same technology by the same manufacturer was used in the four cars (two single-deckers, two double-deckers) for the new Tram of Oranjestad, Aruba, which was opened in 2012/13, and operates a daily regular service on a single-track line of 1.9 km.

In 2009-2016, Hong Kong extended its fleet largely with new cars that were mainly based on the traditional exterior but showed new technological features, such as a VVVT drive and a full aluminum body.

Manufacturers

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong Tramways</span> Tram system

Hong Kong Tramways (HKT) is a 3 ft 6 in narrow-gauge tram system in Hong Kong. Owned and operated by RATP Dev, the tramway runs on Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, with a branch circulating through Happy Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles</span> Aims to preserve historic rail vehicles

Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles.

Brush Traction was a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England whose operations have now been merged into the Wabtec company's Doncaster UK operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Tramway Museum</span> UK national tramway museum

The National Tramway Museum is a tram museum located at Crich, Derbyshire, England. The museum contains over 60 trams built between 1873 and 1982 and is set within a recreated period village containing a working pub, cafe, old-style sweetshop and tram depots. The museum's collection of trams runs through the village-setting with visitors transported out into the local countryside and back and is operated by the Tramway Museum Society, a registered charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackpool Tramway</span> Light rail transit system in Lancashire, England

The Blackpool Tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is operated by Blackpool Transport Services (BTS) and runs for 18 km. It carried 4.9 million passengers in 2022/23.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum of Transport and Technology</span> Museum in Auckland

The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a science and technology museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has large collections of civilian and military aircraft and other land transport vehicles. An ongoing programme is in place to restore and conserve items in the collections. This work is largely managed by volunteers but, since the passing of the Museum of Transport and Technology Act in 2000, has been supported by full-time professional museum staff. New public programmes and facilities now promote the collections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheffield Tramway</span>

Sheffield Tramway was an extensive tramway network serving the English city of Sheffield and its suburbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesterfield tramway</span>

The Chesterfield and District Tramways Company and its successors ran a tramway system in the Derbyshire town of Chesterfield, England. The first horse-drawn line opened in 1882, and in 1897, the system was taken over by Chesterfield Corporation, who extended and electrified it in 1904 and 1905. Additional tramcars were purchased, but two had to be scrapped after a disastrous fire at the depot in 1916. The system suffered from a lack of maintenance as a result of reduced staffing levels during the First World War, and the trams were replaced by trolleybuses in 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trams in New Zealand</span>

Trams in New Zealand were a major form of transport from the 19th century into the mid-20th century. New Zealand's first (horse) tramway was established in 1862 (Nelson), followed by a steam tramway in 1871 (Thames), and the first electric tramway in 1900. In New Zealand railway terminology a bush tramway is an industrial tramway, which usually did not carry passengers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maley & Taunton</span>

Maley & Taunton was a tram and tramway engineering company. It was situated in Wednesbury in Staffordshire, England. The principals, Alfred Walter Maley and Edmund MacKenzie Taunton held patents for tram and tramway machinery and equipment. The company exported globally, with its tram trucks used, among others, in Lisbon, Johannesburg, and Hong Kong, and locally — to the Blackpool tramway, Sheffield Corporation, Liverpool Corporation, Glasgow Corporation, and the Manx Electric Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Corporation Tramways</span> Closed urban tramway system in Glasgow, Scotland

Glasgow Corporation Tramways were formerly one of the largest urban tramway systems in Europe. Over 1000 municipally-owned trams served the city of Glasgow, Scotland, with over 100 route miles by 1922. The system closed in 1962 and was the last city tramway in Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds Corporation Tramways</span>

Leeds Corporation Tramways formerly served the city of Leeds, England. The original trams were horse-drawn, but the city introduced Britain's first overhead-powered electric trams in 1891, and by 1901, electrification had been completed. The tramway opened on 29 October 1891.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Corporation Tramways 765</span> Last remaining car from the original Manchester tramways

Manchester Corporation Tramways 765 is the only remaining electric tramcar from Manchester Corporation Tramways in regular operation. It is at Heaton Park, Manchester, UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Electric Car Company</span> Former transportation company in England (1905–1917)

The United Electric Car Company was a tramcar manufacturer from 1905 to 1917 in Preston, Lancashire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dundee and District Tramways</span>

Dundee and District Tramways operated a tramway service in Dundee between 1877 and 1899.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad</span>

The Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad operated a tramway service between Blackpool and Fleetwood from 1898 to 1920.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English Electric Balloon</span>

The English Electric Balloon is a type of double-decker tram that is operated on the Blackpool Tramway. Initially brought into service in 1934, the Balloon formed the backbone of the Blackpool tram fleet until the tramway's conversion to a modern light rail network in 2012. Following the network's re-opening, nine Balloons were converted to meet the disability regulations to serve as a supplement to the modern Flexity 2 vehicles. Some of the Balloons have been retained for use within the heritage fleet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackpool Heritage Trams</span>

Blackpool Heritage Trams are a mixed fleet of restored vehicles that run on the Blackpool Tramway, which runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is operated by Blackpool Transport (BT) and is the last surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom. Excluding museums, it is one of only a few tramways in the world to still use double-decker trams.

Trams have been used since the 19th century, and since then, there have been various uses and designs for trams around the world. This article covers the many design types, most notably the articulated, double-decker, drop-centre, low-floor, single ended, double-ended, rubber -tired, and tram-train; and the various uses of trams, both historical and current, most notably cargo trams, a dog car, hearse tram, maintenance trams, a mobile library service, a nursery tram, a restaurant tram, a tourist tram, and as mobile offices.

References

  1. "Transit In The Triangle, Vol I - 1900-1964", Toman & Hays, c.2012. From page 214
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-02-13. Retrieved 2018-02-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "History - Douglas Bay Tramway Heritage Trust". www.dbtht.org. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  4. Admin. "HISTORY". Franschhoek Wine Tram. Retrieved 2019-11-01.