Leicester Corporation Tramways
Tram on Gallowtree Gate, Leicester ca. 1917
Operation
LocaleLeicester
Open1 July 1901
Close9 November 1949
StatusClosed
Infrastructure
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Propulsion system(s)Electric
Depot(s)Abbey Park Road, Narborough Road, London Road (Electric), Thurcaston Road (horse), Humberstone Gate (electric and horse)
Statistics
Route length22.74 miles (36.60 km)

Leicester Corporation Tramways was a tramway system in Leicester, England from 1901 to 1949.

History

Map of Leicester Corporation Tramways
Tram number 76, held at the National Tramway Museum in Crich.

The first tramways in Leicester started horse-pulled operation in 1874, by the Leicester Tramways Company. The first route was from the Clock Tower to Belgrave. This was soon followed by lines to West Humberstone and to Victoria Park, which opened in 1875. 1878 saw further extensions, of the Victoria Park line along London Road to Knighton Road, and new arterial routes along Aylestone Road in the south, and to Woodgate in the north.[1][2] In 1902 there were 403 horses and 76 vehicles which covered 948,525 miles, and carried 10,743,841 passengers bringing in £47,074 of revenue.[3]

Leicester Corporation took over the tramways in 1901, under the Leicester Corporation Act. The work to convert to electric traction started in April 1903. The work involved lowering the roadway under seven railway bridges by up to 2 feet (0.61 m) The track was relayed with rails from Hadfield’s Steel Foundry of 110 lbs per yard on the straight sections with the steepest gradient being 1 in 16, and the sharpest curve having a radius of 37 feet (11 m). Interlaced track was installed for short lengths on Belgrave Gate, Humberstone Road and Aylestone Road. The track was paved with granite setts from local quarries except in the centre of town where Jarrah and Karri hard wood blocks were used. The relaying cost in the region of £27,000. The first section of newly electrified route opened on 18 May 1904.[4] The power station was erected on Belgrave Road by the canal which along with a tramway laid along Painter Street into the site, provided two options for the delivery of fuel. The main car depot was erected on a 4.5 acre site on Abbey Park Road comprising 3 tracks with accommodation for 56 cars. Altogether the new system cost £650,000[5] (equivalent to £74,510,000 in 2021).[6]

The expansion in 1904 provided links to Highfields, Clarendon Park, Western Park, and Narborough Road.[2] Further expansions took place from 1915 to 1927.

From the 1920s the Corporation Transport department had run a motor bus service, and these started to replace trams in 1933. The last tram ran in 1949, on the Humberstone Road line. The main depot, at Abbey Park Road, continued in use as a bus depot by First Leicester, the successor to Leicester Corporation buses, until 2007 when a new depot opened on Abbey Lane. The site is to be redeveloped as flats.[7][2][8][9] Another depot stood next to the Bell Hotel on Humberstone Gate.[10]

Network and routes

SectionOpenedElectrifiedClosed
Clock Tower – Folly Inn, Belgrave 1874 1904
Clock Tower – Humberstone Gate – Humberstone Road (Ash Street) 1875 1904 1949
Clock Tower – London Road – Victoria Park Road 1875 1904 1949
Victoria Park Road – Knighton Drive 1878 1904
Aylestone Road 1878 1904 1947
Clock Tower – Churchgate – Woodgate 1878 1904
London Road – Melbourne Road – Humberstone Road 1904 1933
Clock Tower – High Street – Braunston Circle 1904
Braunston Circle – Hinckley Road – Western Park 1904
Braunston Circle – Narborough Road 1904
Hinckley Road – Fosse Road – Woodgate – Great Central Street – High Street 1904
High Street – Groby Road 1904
Belgrave Road – Melton Road 1905
Fosse Road – Braunstone Gate 1915
Clarendon Park – Welford Road – Aylestone Road 1922
Groby Road – Blackbird Road – Abbey Park Road – Belgrave Road 1924
Humberstone Road – Coleman Road 1927 1938
Humberstone Road – Uppingham Road – St Barnabas Road – East Park Road – Evington Road – London Road[10]

Route numbers were introduced in 1932.[10]

Trams

From 1904 the tramway used a fleet of 99 double deck trams, supplemented by an additional 40 in 1905. Twenty new trams arrived in 1913/1914 for an experiment with "pay as you enter" boarding.[10] The last new, numbers 161–178, came into service in 1920.[11]

The National Tramway Museum holds tram No. 76, which was introduced in 1904 with electrification and stayed in use until 1947.[12]

In 1950, twenty of the trams were sold and shipped from Birkenhead to Calcutta for service on the tramways there.[13]

Future

In April 2018, the Conservatives announced a policy proposal to revive the tram system should they win control of the City Council at the 2019 local elections, similar to the nearby Nottingham Express Transit system, with work proposed to start in 2020. The proposal was criticised by the current Mayor of Leicester, Peter Soulsby, who stated that studies exploring a revival of the tramway indicated that Leicester's geography was "unsuitable" for a modern tram network.[14] In March 2019, plans were revealed for a tram network that would have 40 stops and be built in two phases.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Belgrave Trams & Toll Gates". Leicester City Council. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 Peter Gould. "Leicester Corporation Transport". Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  3. ↑ "Lines from Leicester". Hinckley Times. England. 28 February 1903. Retrieved 20 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "From Old to New. Leicester's Tramways Under-Taking". Leicester Daily Post. England. 18 May 1904. Retrieved 20 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "General News Items". Northampton Mercury. England. 20 May 1904. Retrieved 20 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ 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 11 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "Leicester Trams". Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  8. ↑ "First Leicester Bus Depot". Lost Places. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  9. ↑ "Anger at plans for new bus depot". BBC News. 27 October 2004. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Creese, Geoff (2006). Leicester and its Trams: Tramscape and Townscape, 1903–1949. Irwell Press Ltd. ISBN 1-903266-68-8.
  11. ↑ Peter Gould. "Leicester Corporation Transport: Tram Fleet List". Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  12. ↑ "Tram Fleet". National Tramway Museum. Archived from the original on 1 April 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  13. ↑ "Leicester Trams Going Abroad". Leicester Daily Mercury. England. 24 March 1950. Retrieved 20 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ↑ "Plan unveiled to build city tram network - if Tories win election". Leicester Mercury. 19 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "40 tram stop locations set out in proposed £500m plan". Leicester Mercury. 11 March 2019.
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