| Cape Town tramway networks | |||||||||||||
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 Double-deck trams, cnr Adderley Street and Darling Street, Cape Town, ca. 1900. | |||||||||||||
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| Locale | Cape Town, South Africa | ||||||||||||
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Cape Town, South Africa, has had two tramway networks forming part of its public transport arrangements. Both networks are now long closed.
The first of the two networks to be established was a horsecar network, which was opened on 1 May 1863. In around 1896, it was converted to electrical operation. From 21 December 1935, it was gradually replaced by trolleybuses, which were always referred to by English-speaking locals as "Trackless trams". [3] It was finally closed on 28 January 1939.
The other network, opened in November 1901, was an interurban tramway linking Burnside Road in Cape Town with Camps Bay and Sea Point. It was powered by electricity, and was in operation until 17 February 1930.
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.
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.
The Mexborough and Swinton Traction Company was the name adopted by the Mexborough & Swinton Tramways Company in 1929 following the introduction of trolleybuses on all its routes. It operated in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, over routes serving Manvers Main Colliery, Wath upon Dearne and the towns of Rotherham, Rawmarsh, Swinton, Mexborough, Conisbrough and the estate at Conanby.
Trolleybuses in Wellington were part of the Wellington public transport system from 1924 until 1932 and again from 1949 until 2017. It was the last trolleybus system operating commercially in Oceania and the last major system operating in a country where driving is on the left side of the road.
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.
The Adelaide trolleybus system formed part of the public transport network in Adelaide, South Australia from 1932 until 1963.
The Wolverhampton trolleybus system served the city of Wolverhampton, then in Staffordshire, England, for much of the twentieth century.
The Southend-on-Sea trolleybus system once served the town of Southend-on-Sea, in Essex, England. Opened on 16 October 1925, it gradually replaced Southend-on-Sea Corporation Tramways.
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.
The Sydney trolleybus system in New South Wales consisted of two unconnected lines in the Eastern Suburbs and St George areas of Sydney.
The Cape Town trolleybus system was part of the public transport network in Cape Town, South Africa, for nearly 30 years in the mid-twentieth century. The trolleybuses on the system were always referred to by English-speaking locals as "Trackless trams", and even the systems's stops were marked "Trackless Tram Stop".
The Johannesburg trolleybus system was part of the public transport network in Johannesburg, South Africa, for nearly 50 years in the mid-twentieth century.
The Pretoria trolleybus system was part of the public transport network in Pretoria, South Africa, for more than 30 years in the mid-twentieth century.
The Durban tramway network formed part of the public transport system in Durban, South Africa, for nearly 70 years until the end of the 1940s.
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.
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.
The Johannesburg tramway network formed part of the public transport system in Johannesburg, South Africa, for just over 70 years until the start of the 1960s.
Buses in Ipswich operate in the town of Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk. As of 2013 services are primarily operated by Ipswich Buses and First Norfolk & Suffolk, although other smaller operators, such as Galloway European, Carters Coaches and Beestons, operate routes from the town into the surrounding rural area. Many of the current routes are based on those established at the end of the 19th century when a horse tram network developed.
Bradford Corporation Tramways were a tramway network in the city of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England which operated trams from 1882 until 1950 and trolleybuses from 1911 until 1972. The track gauge of the tramways was 4 ft.
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.
Media related to Trams in Cape Town at Wikimedia Commons
