Blackpool Tramway - History

History

The first part of the tramway opened on 29 September 1885, a conduit line running from Cocker Street to Dean Street on Blackpool Promenade. It was one of the first practical electric tramways in the world, just six years after Werner von Siemens first demonstrated electric traction. The inauguration was presided over by Holroyd Smith, the inventor of the system, and Alderman Harwood, the Mayor of Manchester.

The line was operated by the Blackpool Electric Tramway Company until 1892 when its lease expired and Blackpool Corporation took over the line. A further line was added in 1895 from Manchester Square along Lytham Road to South Shore. The tracks were extended to South Pier and a line on Station Road connecting Lytham Road to the promenade in 1897.

Conduit operation, in which trams took electricity from a conduit situated below and between the tracks, though very successful in other locations, such as town or city centres, proved to be very problematic when operated on a line so close to the coast. During bad weather, sea water would wash over the track and into the conduit where it would short circuit the traction supply and operate the circuit breakers in the power station. Even when sea water was not being washed over the tracks, sand from the beaches would be wind blown across the tracks and fill up the conduits. It was necessary to constantly remove this sand, as the addition of sea water would leave the conduits filled with wet sand which would short circuit the supply until it was removed. Another problem was that electrical resistance was greater than anticipated and the voltage in portions of the conduit was far less than that generated at Blundell Street — 230V dropped to 210V at the junction with the main line on the Promenade, 185V at Cocker Street and 168V at South Pier (then Victoria Pier).

In 1899 550V overhead wiring was installed and the conduit removed. In 1900 the line was extended north to Gynn Square where it linked up with the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad. In 1901 The Marton loop was opened, connecting Talbot Square and Central Station along Church Street, Devonshire Square, Whitegate Drive, Waterloo Road and Central Drive. A new depot was built on Whitegate Drive in Marton. A line was added from Talbot Square along Talbot Road to Layton in 1902. By 1903 the promenade line had reached the Pleasure Beach.

In 1920 Blackpool Corporation took over the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad Company gaining eight miles (13 km) of track and three depots, two in Fleetwood and one in Bispham. The small Bold Street Depot in Fleetwood was closed and a loop constructed at Fleetwood Ferry.

The original Blundell Street Depot was replaced by a larger depot on Rigby Road in 1920. Along the line to Fleetwood, between Rossall and Broadwater a more direct line was built in 1925. The final tramway extension was in 1926, along the promenade to Clifton Drive at Starr Gate where a connection was with Lytham St. Annes Corporation Tramways tracks.

In the 1930s manager Walter Luff, as part of a five year plan for modernisation, introduced a fleet of modern streamlined tramcars including the English Electric double-deck Luxury Dreadnoughts (which would become known as 'Balloons' and single-deck open-topped Open Boats and enclosed Railcoaches. These trams would form the backbone of the fleet into the 21st Century. In 1936 route closures began with the Central Drive and Layton routes. Lytham Road closed in 1961, Marton in 1962, and the tramroad line on Dickson Road to North Station in 1963. Marton and Copse Road Depots closed in 1963 and Bispham Depot in 1966. This left the track running from Starr Gate to Fleetwood, which still remains. Blackpool Borough Council transferred the operation of the tramway and buses to Blackpool Transport Services Limited in 1986.

Blackpool was the only town in the UK that retained its trams, and between 1962 and 1992 Blackpool had the only urban tramway in the UK. The last English city to lose its conventional trams was Sheffield in 1960. The last in the UK was Glasgow in 1962. The 1992 opening of the Metrolink in Manchester heralded a revival.

Following the Government's pledge to a build 25 new tram networks by 2010, a £1 billion bid for a Government grant was launched by Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council in 2002 to expand the tram network to include St Annes to the south and new housing estates in Fleetwood to the north, with a possible further phase to include links to Poulton-Le-Fylde and Thornton. In 2004 campaigners behind the bid expressed disappointment that nothing had been done to take the plans forward in two years. By November 2007 there was no further development.

For the first time the entire length of the tramway was closed in November 2007 for five months of essential repair work, the second phase of an £11,800,000 upgrade. In January 2007 the City Class 611 prototype "supertram" was being tested on the tramway when it caught fire as it approached Central Pier, causing extensive damage. The driver escaped when the electrical console in the cab reportedly blew up. The tram, manufactured by Merseyside based Tram Power, was being tested as part of a bid to replace the current trams. The tramcar was rebuilt at a cost of £150,000 but was not permitted to resume trials, the tram is currently scheduled to form part of a trial park & ride tram line in Preston. The same tram had derailed on 30 May 2006 at Starr Gate loop during previous trials. A Rail Accident Investigation Branch report stated that the derailment was due to wear and tear on the track with a contributory factor being the new type of running gear on the two-car prototype.

On 1 February 2008 it was announced that the Government had agreed to the joint BTS and Blackpool Council bid for funding toward the total upgrade of the track. The Government were to contribute £60.3m of the total £85.3m cost. Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council would each provide about £12.5m. The Government's decision meant that the entire length of the tramway from Starr Gate to Fleetwood was upgraded and 16 Flexity 2 trams replaced the current fleet to provide the main Starr Gate to Fleetwood service.

The tramway resurfacing works and construction of a tram shed at Starr Gate meant no trams operated south of the Pleasure Beach from 2009 until the new trams entered service, in April 2012, and track work at Cleveleys halted services north of Little Bispham. A replacement bus service operated.

In 2011 the line voltage was raised to 600 V in anticipation of the arrival of the new rolling stock. The 6th November 2011 marked the last day of running for the traditional tram fleet. The tramway reopened on 4 April 2012 with Flexity 2 cars providing day to day services. Members of the traditional fleet have been retained, with unmodified trams being part of the 'Heritage Fleet', and modified, widened trams as part of the main fleet, running alongside the Flexity 2 trams. The new depot at Starr Gate houses the main fleet. The Rigby Road depot is being retained for older trams, although many of those have been sold.