On Trains & Buses

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Tram Systems

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Tram systems have made a strong return to cities after several decades of decline, offering a transport option that sits between buses and heavy rail. Their growing presence reflects the need for reliable, high-capacity urban transport that can move people efficiently through congested areas. As new systems open and existing ones expand, it becomes easier to encounter tram networks when exploring different cities.

Recognising where tram systems operate and who runs them provides valuable insight into urban transport networks. This helps place tramways in context and understand their role within the wider public transport landscape.

Why Tram Systems Have Returned

After a few decades on the transport scrapheap, trams are coming back into vogue again thanks to increasing congestion in our cities and the need for an option mid-way between buses and trains. Quite a few schemes have come into being over the last decade or two and more are in the pipeline. One of these has become something of a long-running saga that I would like to see brought to a good end sooner rather than later: Edinburgh’s project. Let us hope that it does not forestall others because many are successful ventures, and there remain places where tram systems could play a useful role.

How Tram Systems Compare

In their early days, trams were horse-drawn affairs, and one still runs along Douglas’ promenade on the Isle of Man every summer. Most now are electrically powered, making them cleaner in urban environments than buses. A two-car tram can carry more passengers than a bus while still operating along city streets, something that gives them a flexibility that conventional railways cannot match.

Some systems also run along former railway alignments, yet their lighter infrastructure requirements can make construction more economical than heavier rail systems such as the Docklands Light Railway in London or the Tyne & Wear Metro serving Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland.

All in all, trams have re-established themselves as a flexible and effective transport option. Once seen as outdated, they now offer a dependable way to move through busy cities, often avoiding the delays faced by buses in congested traffic.

Local Operators

The following is a growing reference to tram systems, helping you identify networks, understand where they operate and place them within the wider public transport landscape.

London Tramlink

London had its trams too with ones running around Croydon until 1951 when the system was shut down to make more space for cars and buses. The current one returned in 2000 and has four routes extending around Croydon and Wimbledon with more potentially in the pipeline.

Luas

When we Irish set our minds on doing something, we just get on with the job and the return of trams to Dublin’s streets in 2004 was an example of this; before that, the last ones ran in 1959. They look modern and are operated well by Veolia/Transdev under contract to the Irish government. There is even a plan to link up two separate lines (one from St. Stephen’s Green to Sandyford and another from Tallaght to Connolly train station and the O2 Arena, formerly the Point Depot) now, something that should have been done in the first place. Due to the economic situation, more adventurous plans need to be postponed though some did reach the drawing board.

West Midlands Metro

This system is operated between Wolverhampton and Birmingham by National Express, the main bus operator in England’s West Midlands, on behalf of local transport authority Centro, who owns it. It started working in 1999 and an extension to Stourbridge is being considered.

Metrolink (Manchester)

This is a tram system of which I have better knowledge since I live not that far away from Manchester. It started operating in 1992 and is council-owned with a private operator running the network. It now is RATP after terms with Stagecoach and Serco. There are five lines in existence and progress is being made towards the total replacement of the first generation of trams and new lines are planned too. The current lines have termini at Altrincham, Bury, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Eccles and Oldham with the route between Piccadilly and Victoria train stations being a busy and useful thoroughfare. It is a good example of the place of light rail in modern city public transportation.

Nottingham Express Transit

This is one of the newer tram systems, starting as it did in 2004. So far, there is just one line with more being planned. It, too, has its predecessors though the middle of the twentieth century saw a move away from trams altogether until the dawn of the one in which we live now.

Supertram (Sheffield)

1985 saw a parliamentary act passed that set in train the re-establishment of a tram network in Sheffield; its predecessor lasted until 1960. That work was completed in 1994/5 and the network passed from council ownership to Stagecoach in 1997. There are three lines and ticketing is shared with Stagecoach’s bus operations in the city.