If trams were such a bad idea in 1950's, why are they so good today?

Question

Scottish cities used to have trams, but in about the 1950's the lines were all removed and the trams scrapped. Presumably people thought they were outmoded and buses were better. Now Edinburgh is planning to invest millions in a new system. What has changed to make trams so good now?

Answer 1

You have to understand the situation in the 1950s, which is a combination of several diverse factors.

By 1950, investment in trams, their track and their overhead had suffered years of neglect. First you had the crash of 1929 and the Depression. That was hardly past when the possibilities of war started to emerge - leading in 1939 to outbreak of hostilities. Factories producing tram-related items were immeadiatly converted to the production of the needs of modern warfare. Even in 1945, the situation was little better - the bus industry had to continue to accept "austerity" vehicles until 1948/49, and, even then, in far fewer a quantity than was necessary.

The tramway operators often suffered more from the war, because of bomb damage to both track and overhead.


In the immediate post-war situation, Britian faced a major problem with replacing its housing stock (some of us remember the prefabs that sprung up everywhere.) This problem was solved by building vast, out-of-town, housing estates (we call them "schemes" in Scotland). It was clear that to serve this new housing by trams (or trolleybuses) would require major investment by an industry already facing the problems highlighted above.


And, then, the killer punch!

Diesel was so cheap; very, very cheap. And with the re-opening of the Suez Canal (under the control of the French and British governments), its transporatation became far cheaper, and safer, than the route via the Cape. (Of course, that all changed when that "nasty" Mr Nasser nationalised the Canal and ejected the Brits and the French from the Canal Zone; but that is another story!)


So, from the early 1950s onwards, the tramway operators took the "obvious" step of closing their tramway networks and replacing them with the motor bus, powered by diesel.


But trams and trolley buses were always a more efficent form of public transport. Many European countries had the forethought to retain and develop their tramway networks.

In the Netherlands, for example, they got round the problem of out-of-town housing, by running trolley buses "under the wires" along a main arterial route from the town centre. When they had to leave this road to serve the new housing, they lowered the booms and operated around the housing on their newly, developed batteries. On re-joining the main road, up went the booms again, and on the journey back into town, the overhead both powered the vehicle AND recharged the batteries. Simple really!


It is only now, as the true economic cost of using fossil-based fuels is apparent, coupled with the effect that emissions have on the climate (and our health), that the loss of the 1950s is being fully realised.

Answer 2

Although there currently is no tram network in Edinburgh, like many other cities in the UK, Edinburgh had a tram network in the first half of the 20th century, running as far as Leith and Musselburgh. The service was withdrawn in 1956 - the last tram to run was on the evening of Friday November 16 that year.

Following years of transport studies in Edinburgh, the last being CERT, Central Edinburgh Rapid transport. In 2004, two Bills were submitted to the Scottish Parliament to reintroduce a tram network to Edinburgh. Both Bills were passed in March/April 2006 and the system has now received Royal Assent. Movement of underground utilities is due to commence in Spring 2007, now that the draft business case has been accepted by the Scottish Executive .

As of October 2006 the scheme is being developed and designed under a joint design contract lead by Parsons Brinkerhoff and Halcrow and overseen by the City of Edinburgh Council's wholly owned company, Transport initiatives edinburgh (tie). Currently, work is ongoing to refine previous designs and to undertake survey work where needed in preparation for moving of utilities and later network construction. Once the network becomes operational it will be operated by Transdev, a French company, who were awarded the contract in 2004 to help develop, and eventually operate the network. The target date for opening the Phase 1a of the system is now 25 February 2011 at a cost of £498 million.
Ticketing and fares will be fully integrated with Lothian Buses. The fare for a single journey on the tram network will be the same as on Lothian Buses, expected to be around £1.25 when the network opens in 2011. Day tickets and Ridacards will be valid on both the trams and buses.

Answer 3

Marketing by the auto industry killed the Trams. Same thing happened in the US. We used to have lovely extensive street car systems (Trams in US speak) but the auto industry often bought up the street car companies and put them out of business, paving the way (no pun intended) for dominance of the automobile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Streetcar_Scandal

Answer 4

Trams run on electricity so cause less pollution than buses; they are larger than buses too, carrying more people. If the tram systems are well designed they are faster than buses; most of the new British tram systems utilise disused railway lines, so don't interfere with road traffic flow. Trams are a relatively inexpensive, relatively pollution free method of moving people around our crowded cities.

Answer 5

I do not have any personal experience of Scottish cities, but I do have some knowledge of why they disappeared in the U S cities. General Motors used about every tactic at their disposal to do away with street cars in the U S so that they could sell busses. It was basically a marketing ploy. Get rid of street cars and sell busses. Perhaps the same tactic was used in the UK.

Answer 6

There are many thousands of people living in and around Edinburgh who are absolutely livid that so much money is being spent on what will simply be a straight replacement for the busiest bus service in the area.
What is being done now is nothing less than criminal.

Answer 7

yeah but its the new style of tram we are getting far bigger can hold about the same as 2 or 3 double decker buses

Answer 8

The politicians and civil servants want a fast link between Victoria Quay/Holyrood and the Airport!

Answer 9

Modern trams are light railways, require platforms, not like Blackpool trams

Answer 10

they aren't it's a waste of tax payers money and if there was a public vote on it, it would be a none starter. The disruption to the roads is unreal and it's only going to get worse!!