Swansea Improvements and Tramway Company - Electric Tram Services

Electric Tram Services

The electric trams initially worked four services:

1. High Street and Morriston
2. High Street and Cwmbwrla
3. Alexandra Road and Docks
4. Gower Street and St Helens

As only the last route was free of low bridges, the initial purchase of cars was mostly single deckers: 15 4-wheelers for the shorter routes, 15 bogie cars for the Morriston route and just 4 open-top double deckers added later in the year exclusively for the St. Helen's route. As many of the workers using the trams were unable to read, route numbers were not used but a system of letters by day and coloured lights by night was used until 1934. Four open-top cars came from the Weston-super-Mare Tramways in 1904 where they had been damaged by a high tide.

In 1905, following a failed attempt to take over the tramway, Swansea Corporation won the right to build several new lines but had to give the running powers to the SITC. Glamorgan County Council, meanwhile, built an extension northwards from Morriston to Ynysforgan (intended to be a new system to Pontardawe but never completed) for which the SITC also provided the cars and electric power. Three further short extensions followed in 1913 promoted by the SITC to link between some of the existing tracks to permit more route variation giving the final route pattern used from then until closure in 1937.

Final service routes:

1. Castle Street and Morriston
2. Castle Street and Cwmbwrla
3. Castle Street and Brynhyfryd
4. High Street and Sketty
5. Docks and Sketty
6. Wind Street and Brynmill
7. High Street and St Helens
8. St Helens and Port Tennant
9. Market and Sketty (occasional route)
10. Albert Hall and Sketty (occasional route)

The company was highly innovative in overcoming the limitations of the low bridges and special low-height double-deck cars were introduced on the same design as cars built for Cardiff (see below), who had the same problem. The new cars provided a more profitable service for the Morriston and Docks services whilst normal height double-deck cars were used for the Sketty, St Helens and Brynmill routes, though single-deck cars continued to run on the very height-restricted Port Tennant route.