Gloucester Tramways Company

Last updated

Gloucester Tramways Company
Operation
Locale Gloucester
Open26 May 1879
Close17 March 1904
StatusClosed
Infrastructure
Track gauge 4 ft (1,219 mm)
Propulsion system(s)Horse
Statistics
Route length 3.4 miles (5.5 km)

Gloucester Tramways Company operated a horse-drawn tramway service in Gloucester between 1879 and 1904. [1]

Gloucester City and Non-metropolitan district in England

Gloucester is a city and district in Gloucestershire, in the South West of England, of which it is the county town. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the southwest.

Contents

History

In 1877, when The Gloucester Tramways Company submitted details of a system to the City Council. Gloucester Tramways Company was a subsidiary of the Imperial Tramways Company. The Company obtained an order under the Tramways Act on 8 April 1878.

The Imperial Tramways Company Ltd was created to bring under common management a number of street tramways. Originally based in London, its headquarters moved to Bristol in 1892 and from then on it shared its senior management with Bristol Tramways under the chairmanship of George White.

Track laying started on 16 September 1878. By 24 May 1879, the system was ready for inspection by the Railway Inspector, Colonel Hutchinson. [2]

The depots were located off Bristol Road at its junction with Lysons Road at SO 8256 1717 , and off India Road at SO 8414 1776 .

Services

The company provided services on 3 routes:

Closure

On 30 September 1902 the Corporation bought out the Tramways Company The purchase price was finally agreed at £26,000 (equivalent to £2,770,000in 2018). [3]

The sale included the India Road and Bristol Road depots, 100 horses, 14 tram cars, 8 horse buses, and 6 charabancs.

The Council established a new company, the Gloucester Corporation Tramways, for the purpose of modernising the tramway.

Gloucester Corporation Tramways

Gloucester Corporation Tramways operated an electric tramway service in Gloucester between 1904 and 1933.

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References

  1. The Golden Age of Tramways. Published by Taylor and Francis.
  2. Gloucester Journal, 24 May 1879
  3. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 27 January 2019.