Trams in Madras | |||
---|---|---|---|
Overview | |||
Owner | Madras Electric Tramways Co Ltd. | ||
Area served | Madras | ||
Locale | Madras, Madras Presidency, India | ||
Transit type | Tram | ||
Daily ridership | 1,00,000 daily[ clarification needed ] | ||
Operation | |||
Began operation | 1874 | ||
Ended operation | 12 April 1953 | ||
Operator(s) | Madras Electric Tramways | ||
Technical | |||
System length | 24km | ||
Track gauge | Metre gauge | ||
Electrification | 550 V DC Overhead line, Trolleypole | ||
|
Madras Tramway was the former organization that was responsible for building the first tramways in India in the city of Madras. It was existent in the city for about 67 years starting from the end of the 19th century.
The Madras Tramway Proposals were put forward by the Madras Government in 1857 for ‘experiments for using tramways instead of common roads were being carried out in the Madras Territories and may be used in the Punjab.
It would appear that Madras were experiencing problems in crossing unstable ground and river beds and were developing solutions using temporary tracks.
In 1936 a submission was made from the Government in Madras to the Directors of East India Company in London concerning two projects. One was the project to build a tramway for carrying road materials from St Thomas Mount. No costing was submitted and the Madras Gazette of 4 May 1836 had enquired why this project was taking place. The reply dated 19 September 1838 dismissed the proposal as a quotation was not attached and as there was no savings to be made. The scheme was discounted out of hand.
In 1842 a proposal was put forward to provide a stone tramway to connect south Madras to the outlying districts of Santhome and Mylapore. A bridge carrying over the Adyar River named the Elphinstone Bridge had been constructed about 1840 during the time of Lord Elphinstone, who was Governor of Madras from 1837 to 1842. The proposal was to construct a stone tramway on the existing bridge, presumably to convey carts pulled by bullock and extended over existing roads. A short length was constructed but in 1843 the experiment was abandoned.
By 1842 a letter to the Court of Directors of the East India Company requested payment of Rs1817.15 for the construction of the tramway.
In the reply the Directors requested a report from the Military Board on the feasibility of the experiment. [1] In the engineer's report Lieutenant Robertson says the engineer escorted the Superintendent of Roads to review the tramway. A length of stone tramway 684ft (0.12Km) had been built "substantially with judgement. The track had been down 2 monsoons so was a fair trial. It was useful with the public facilitating the haulage across what was in some parts a heavy bed of sand". The cost quoted differed at Rs1539 for the length of track. This meant a calculated Rs11,880 per mile (1.6 km). There was evidence that the sets had moved and over a longer route would be costly to maintain. A suggestion that causeways would be cheaper and more easily maintained . These facts unfortunately put an end to the experiment and the Directors declined to continue.
First tramway in Madras which was many years later in 1892 with the formation of The Madras Electric Tramway Co Ltd. The construction of the first track commenced in 1894 and the first tramway section opened for use in May 1895.
In 1874 a horse-drawn tram entered service in Madras when 11 miles(17 km) of metre gauge track was opened for passenger service. The line of patent modular design was laid by J E & A Dawson.
By 1886 the line was assessed as a dismal failure and narrowly escaped being scrapped. In that year ‘The Indian Engineer’ reported moves to construct an electric tramway. Nothing happened until 1891 when Madras Municipality offered a concession to Messrs Hutchinson of London, who registered the ‘Madras Electrical Tramway Company’ in London on 2 April 1892. The prospectus proposed 18 miles of track to be laid. [2]
The Madras Electric Tramway Co Ltd was formed in 1892. The construction of the first track commenced in 1894 and the first tramway section opened for use in May 1895. it was the first electric tram system in India. Its activities expanded in 1904.
The ‘Electrical Construction Company’ of Wolverhampton, England was awarded the contract for construction of the Madras Tramway in 1893, but several problems were encountered. Charles Herbert Gadsby took over the tramway in Dec 1894 and remained until Apr 1896. Trial runs began in Feb 1895 and public service started on 7 May 1895 with seven cars . On 31 May 1900 the ‘Electrical Construction Company’ as contactor-turned-operator bought out other shareholders and placed William Thom as Manager. He turned the business round and on 16 Mar 1904 a new company ‘Madras Electrical Tramway(1904)’ was formed. At this point there was 9¼ miles(15 km) of route, 3 acre depot site, 45 cars. By 1905 the route had risen to 13.25 miles(21 km) and rolling stock to 51 and by 1924 the system had grown to 26 miles(42 km).
Trams in Madras (Chennai) were operated between the docks and the inland areas, carrying goods and passengers. At its height in 1921, there were 97 cars running on 24 km of track. However, the tram company went bankrupt about 1950 and the system closed on 12 April 1953. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
In the late 1940s, the company which ran the system claimed a loss of Rs 50,000 every month. The government took over the electricity company and raised the charges, nullifying a 50-year-old contract. On July 29, 1949, the company had submitted a petition to the Minister for Public Works, complaining about the increased charges, and pointing out how it had been carrying one lakh citizens of Madras daily at cheap rates for years.
The letter also pointed out how the company had begun to work at a loss, was unable to pay any dividend and how its financial condition had deteriorated progressively. The government disagreed. [9] so due to uncontrollable losses on 12 April 1953, Madras Electric Tramways co. was closed and to cater one lakh public needs, additionally 50 Busses were operated by the government [4] and finally the tram tracks were not dismantled, later they were being vanished by successful laying and replacement of roads.
Transport in Chennai includes various modes of air, sea, road and rail transportation in the city and its suburbs. Chennai's economic development has been closely tied to its port and transport infrastructure, and it is considered one of the best infrastructure systems in India.
The Kingston upon Hull tramway network was a network of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge tram lines following the five main roads radially out of the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Two of these lines went west, and two east. The fifth went to the north, and branched to include extra lines serving suburban areas. Additionally a short line linked the city centre to the Corporation Pier where a ferry crossed the Humber Estuary to New Holland, Lincolnshire.
Ilkeston Corporation Tramways was a tramway network in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of England run firstly by Ilkeston Borough Council and from 1916 by the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company. The system ran between 1903 and 1931. Ilkeston was the first town in Derbyshire to adopt and operate a fully electrical tramway system.
The Adelaide tramway network served much of the inner suburbs and a few outer suburbs of Adelaide, Australia, from 1878 up until the 1950s when the network started to decline. The sole Glenelg light rail line was the only route to survive the closures and has remained in operation ever since. After falling into a state of disrepair and neglect, it underwent major upgrades and extensions in the 2000s with a new tram fleet and major extensions.
The Christchurch tramway system is a small tramway network serving the inner city of Christchurch, New Zealand. Historically, it was an extensive network, with steam and horse trams from 1882 and then electric trams ran from 1905 to 1954, when the last line from Cashmere to Papanui was replaced by buses. In 1995, a 2.5-kilometre (1.6 mi) central city loop heritage tram was reopened in the central city as a tourist attraction. This has now been is extended with a 1.4-kilometre (0.87 mi) loop down to High Street which was opened in February 2015.
The stud contact system is an obsolete ground-level power supply system for electric trams. Power supply studs were set in the road at intervals and connected to a buried electric cable by switches operated by magnets on the tramcars. Current was collected from the studs by a "skate" or "ski collector" under the tramcar. The system was popular for a while in the early 1900s but soon fell out of favour because of the unreliability of the magnetic switches, largely due to friction and rapid corrosion affecting its cast iron moving components.
The Rothesay tramway was a narrow gauge electric tramway on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. It opened in 1882 as a 4 ft gauge horse tramway, was converted to a 3 ft 6 in gauge electric tramway in 1902, and closed in 1936. It was the only public tramway to be built on a Scottish island.
Dover Corporation Tramways was the operator of the second tramway system built in the United Kingdom. It was in operation from 1897 to 1936. The worst ever tram accident in the United Kingdom occurred on the system in 1917.
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.
The Taunton Tramway was an electric street tramway in Taunton, the county town of Somerset, England. It operated a fleet of six narrow gauge tramcars on a single route of 1.66 miles (2.67 km) between 1901 and 1921 when the tramway closed due to a dispute over the cost of electricity.
Torquay Tramways operated electric street trams in Torquay, Devon, England, from 1907. They were initially powered by the unusual Dolter stud-contact electrification, but in 1911 was converted to more conventional overhead-line supply. The line was extended into neighbouring Paignton in 1911 but the whole network was closed in 1934.
Coventry Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Coventry, England, between 1912 and 1940.
The City of Oxford and District Tramway Company and its successor the City of Oxford Electric Traction Company operated a horse-drawn passenger tramway service in Oxford between 1881 and 1914. The tramway was unusual for having a track gauge of only 4 feet (1.219 m).
Aberdare Urban District Council Tramways operated a tramway service in Aberdare between 1913 and 1935. It was the only system in the United Kingdom which consisted of a tramway with feeder services run by trolleybuses from the start. The trolleybuses used the Austrian Cedes-Stoll system, and became increasingly difficult to maintain. Parts of the trolleybus network were converted to tramways in the early 1920s, and the rest stopped operating in 1925, when no trolleybuses were available for service. The tramway continued for another ten years, but was closed in 1934 and 1935 as a result of a downturn in the prosperity of Aberdare, due to collieries closing and the population dwindling. Motor buses took over the local services once the tramway had closed.
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.
At the peak of Britain’s first-generation tramways, it was possible to travel by tram all the way from Pier Head at Liverpool to the Pennines in Rochdale by tram.
Rhondda Tramways Company operated a tramway service in Rhondda, Wales, between 1904 and 1934.
Llanelly and District Electric Tramways operated a standard gauge tramway service in Llanelli, Wales, between 1908 and 1933. It was the successor to a 3 ft gauge horse tramway, which ran from 1882 until 1908. A complex series of negotiations took place in the early 1900s, resulting in the horse tramway being converted to an electric tramway. Standard gauge horse trams were run initially, until the company completed North Dock power station, which supplied electricity to the tramway. Two of the employees who worked on the construction went on to found Balfour Beatty.
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.
Stockport Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Stockport, England, between 1901 and 1951. It was preceded by a horse tramway from Levenshulme to Stockport, which opened in 1880, and was ultimately run by the Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company. A second independent horse tramway opened in 1890, running to Hazel Grove. In 1899 the Corporation bought the first line, electrified it, and leased it back to the operating company. Their powers to buy the Stockport and Hazel Grove Tramway, authorised by the same Act of Parliament, were not exercised until 1905.