Background
Swansea is Wales's second city and was a leader in the Industrial Revolution owing to the ready availability of local resources of coal and good access via its seaport to imported metal ores, especially copper, from the West Country, Cornwall and Devon.
The city is constrained geographically by high hills landwards from Swansea Bay giving the city a reversed 'L' shape. Transport was a particular issue for the rapidly expanding town (as it was before the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969 made it a city). Industry and workers' housing was expanding northwards towards Morriston, up the Swansea Valley whilst wealthier homes spread westwards along the coast towards Sketty. The world's first passenger railway, the Swansea and Mumbles Railway (SMR), had demonstrated the power of rails to carry passengers but a street tramway was not considered until after the Tramways Act 1870 when a group of business men formed the Swansea Tramways Company. Problems with raising capital and the need for street widening to accommodate trams led to its failure and the subsequent formation of the Swansea Improvements & Tramway Company (SITC) in 1873 to not only widen the streets but also provide places of entertainment including a music hall and a pier at the Mumbles.
Read more about this topic: Swansea Improvements And Tramway Company
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