Leicester Trams

A page to chart Leicester Tramway History – A developing City and a developing transport network to serve it…

Leicester Tramways Company

(1874 – 1901)

The Leicester Tramways Company Limited was formed by Mr Busby of Liverpool and Mr Turton of Leeds who were pioneers in the industry. The track was of standard gauge and the three cars which were available for the opening accomodated sixteen passengers, had cushioned benches and were decorated with six paintings on each side of the saloon. Service commenced on Christmas Eve 1874 from the Clock Tower to the Folley Inn at Belgrave. Additional routes were opened in 1875 along Humberstone Road to Ash Street and along London Road to Stoneygate. In the latter case a ‘fitting demonstration with flowers, bunting and a police band’ was held somewhat belatedly to mark the opening of the system.

In 1878 the Stoneygate line was extended to Knighton Road, the Aylestone line to Grace Road and the Churchgate section to Woodgate was opened. The first cars were all single-deck one horse vehicles, all but two of which were later converted to double-deck with knifeboard seating on the top deck. Later additions to the fleet comprised several types of both single and double-deck cars.

The livery in later years was grey and biscuit but there is some evidence that both red and white and an all-over green livery were used in the early years.

In 1884 powers were obtained for further extensions, the most ambitious being from Stoneygate to Oadby parish church. The line was never built, the company instead putting into service its first horse bus. The company’s car fleet reached its maximum in 1886 with 46 trams, several of which had been built in the company’s workshops near the terminus of the Belgrave line.

In 1901 Leicester Corporation exercised its powers to purchase the company, the price for its assets being £110,210 which included 39 trams of 10 different types, 30 horse buses, 375 horses, all the real estate and 9 miles of track.

Leicester Corporation Tramways

(1902-1919)

The Corporation commenced running horse trams in January 1902, and during the two succeeding years a plan of extension, replacement and electrification was devised, put into place and accomplished.

The upheaval was colossal with whole streets being closed to traffic whilst heavier gauge track was laid to accommodate the heavier electric tramcars. To maintain a horse car service throughout the upheaval temporary tracks were laid – sometimes on the pavement!

The mammoth task of laying special complicated trackwork weighing well over 100 tons, at the Clock Tower, was completed in just ten days. This included lifting the old horse tramway rails and granite setts and repaving the area with hardwood blocks. Considering the limited mechanical aids which were available and that no night work was done, this was a remarkable achievement.

In June 1903 two sample electric cars arrived. No.1 came from the Dick Kerr Company of Preston and No.2 was built by the Brush Electrical Engineering Co. of nearby Loughborough. The tramway sub-committee was not impressed by the Brush car which was later disposed of and an order for 58 four-wheel, double-deck open-top electric cars was placed with Dick Kerr. These were delivered in a livery of deep crimson lake with cream window frames, rocker panels and decency boards. The construction of the vehicles made use of Oak, Ash, Mahogany and Maple and their overall appearance was claimed to be unsurpassed on any other tramway system.

On the 18th May 1904, in perfect weather, the opening ceremony for the electric era took place. The local press described the celebration thus:

“Shortly after 2pm a reception of 300 guests was held at the Town Hall. The party included titled gentry, the Mayor, Councillor Samuel Flint (Chairman of the Tramways Committee) and a fair sprinklingof ladies.”

“After the reception the party repaired to twelve horse trams lined up in Horsefair Street which conveyed them to the new LERO power station in Painter Street. Here the power was switched on by Mrs Flint and Mrs Smith (Alderman Smith, the Vice-Chairman’s lady). The party were then conveyed to the new depot in Abbey Park Road by electric cars where they transferred to three decorated trams which made a ceremonial tour of Belgrave and Stoneygate, followed by tea, speeches and presentations at the Museum in New Walk.”

“Public service began at 7 p.m. from the Clock Tower with all services free of charge for the evening, every car being packed until the last one returned to the depot at 11 p.m.”

During the next five and a half months electric and horse cars were to be seen working together. The first routes to be opened were to Belgrave, Stoneygate, Clarendon Park and Melbourne Road. In July the West End routes were opened followed in September by the Aylestone section. East Park Road and Humberstone followed on 1st November, which brought to an end the horse car services. The requirement of these new routes were met by the delivery of a further 40 open-top trams from Dick Kerr, together with a single-deck water car. With the imminent opening of the Melton Road and Groby Road routes 21 trams, fitted with top covers, were ordered from United Electric Car Co., of Preston, successors to Dick Kerr.

The tramways were extremely popular and traffic increased to such an extent that a further 20 cars were ordered in 1905, these being open-top cars, the decision to revert to this type being taken because of the unsatisfactory ventilation in the top covered cars. 1905 saw the acquisition of a further water car followed four years later by a similar car assembled in the department’s workshops from a kit of parts supplied by the UEC Co.

1913/14 saw the arrival of a further 20 trams fitted with large platforms designed for Pay As You Enter operation. The PAYE experiment was confined to the Stoneygate and Narborough Road routes and was discontinued after only fifteen months because of congestion which resulted at stops.

In 1913, the department decided to convert all open-top cars to covered top and in 1915 new workshops were opened which were so well equipped that every type of repair could be undertaken and new cars could be constructed.

After the Great War, the manager reported that he could run all basic winter services with top-covered cars if 75% of the fleet were thus equipped. 25% were to remain as open-toppers as it was thought that they would still be popular in summer. The end of the war found the system in a sorry state with a tremendous backlog of maintenance and renewal to cope with. It was only possible to convert six cars in 1919 and twelve in 1920. 1919 was also reckoned to be the best traffic year in the life of the system. The 160 cars then available carried 62.4 million passengers. More than 11 million up on 1918.

Leicester City Tramways

(1919 -1935) *COMING SOON*

Leicester City Transport

(1935 – 1949) *COMING SOON*

Future Tramways in Leicester?

With cities such as Sheffield, Manchester and Nottingham all having newly constructed tramway systems (sometimes referred to as ‘Super Tram’ systems) it is inevitable that Leicester City Council will consider and discuss a return of trams to the streets of our city once more. Indeed this was the case in 2008 when the Co-Op proposed ‘Pennbury’, a brand new Eco-town to be constructed on the southern edge of the city.

This 2008 proposal for a tramway system never really reached a stage where any serious tramway observer actually thought it might happen. The system was predicted to cost in the region of £250 Million to £300 Million with an additional £100 Million required if a branch to Wigston was to be built.

There was quite a lot of support for a return to trams but the system was only really offered as a token gesture if the Eco-town was approved and constructed. There was massive opposition to the construction of the 15000-home town and the decision eventually fell in favour of the masses when the plans for the town were shelved in July 2009.

The saga did however provide a lot of news stories and discussions about a return of trams to the City of Leicester and much was made of the cost efficiencies and environmental advantages that trams can bring to a city.

Maybe one day our ‘Environment City’ will see trams again?