Rochdale Corporation Transport
In 1881 the Board of Trade made an order under the Tramways Act 1870, giving Rochdale Corporation powers to construct a street tramway. The line was opened on 7 May 1883 and was operated by the steam trams of the Manchester, Bury, Rochdale and Oldham Steam Tramways Company Limited. The company went into liquidation in 1887, but in the following year the service was restored under the auspices of the Bury, Rochdale and Oldham Steam Tramways Company Limited.
In 1900 the Corporation obtained powers to operate the trams itself, and the borough council purchased and electrified the tram network, with the first Rochdale Corporation tram running on 22 May 1902. The last steam tram route was replaced in 1905. In 1911 Rochdale made agreements with two neighbouring municipalities, the borough of Bacup and Milnrow Urban District, to operate the tram networks they had constructed. In addition the corporation tracks reached as far as Littleborough and Whitworth, and ran joint operations with other municipal operators. In 1925 the county borough purchased the Middleton Electric Tramways Company jointly with the Municipal Borough of Middleton and Chadderton Urban District Council. The purchase allowed through running of Rochdale trams into Manchester city centre.
The corporation began operating motorbus services in 1926, initially in addition to the tram network. 1930 saw the first replacement of trams with buses, and the last tram service ran on 12 November 1932. The borough's bus services expanded as new estates were built on the edge of the town.
On 1 November 1969 the corporation ceased to operate buses, with its transport department merged with those of a number of other municipalities to form the new SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive. Rochdale contributed 130 vehicles to the new undertaking's fleet of 2,526.
Read more about this topic: County Borough Of Rochdale
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