Cardiff Corporation Tramways was a company that operated an electric tramway service in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

between 1902 and 1950.

History

Horse trams had run in the city from 1872 until 1904. The first tram route ran from High Street in the city centre to the Docks run by the Cardiff Tramway Company. In 1898,

Cardiff County Borough Council Cardiff County Borough Council, known as Cardiff City Council after Cardiff achieved city status in 1905, was the elected local authority that administered the town (later city) and county borough of Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales between 1889 and ...

obtained an act of Parliament, the

Cardiff Corporation Act 1898 Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

( 61 & 62 Vict. c. cxxviii) giving powers to take over all the tramways in the area, and to use new electric trams, owning them from 1903. The routes formally opened on 1 May 1902. Electricity was supplied from the Cardiff power station at Roath adjacent to the tram depot. In 1904, more than 23 million passengers had been carried in that year, up from 18 million the previous year. and when Cardiff became a city in 1905, 131 electric trams were operating on the network, mainly focusing on the busy

Cardiff Docks Cardiff Docks () is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost . Once the main port for the export of South Wales coalfield, South Wales coal, the Po ...

. The corporation also operated a city-wide parcel delivery service. The Hayes Island Snack Bar was built in 1911 as the main parcel depot and functioned until closure in 1942. In 1928, the network peaked at 142 cars and 19.51 miles (31.3 km) route miles. Traffic and receipts were buoyant; during the year ending 31 March 1928 passengers totalled 42,440,000 with receipts of £265,028. Car miles had reached 3,490,000. By 1929, the tram network stretched from Victoria Park in the west, to Grangetown and

in the south, to

Roath Roath () is a district and Community (Wales), community to the north-east of the Cardiff city centre, city centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. The area is mostly covered by the Plasnewydd electoral ward, and stretches from Adamsdown in the so ...

and

Splott Splott () is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Splott Farms. S ...

in the east, and to

Gabalfa Gabalfa (, ) is a district and community in the north of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is characterised by a four-lane flyover road at the Gabalfa Interchange, where the A48 road meets the A470 road (North Road) which leads from Car ...

in the north. The city council refused motor buses in 1907 but allowed them in 1910, operating its own from 1920, although 81 tramcars were introduced by ''Cardiff Corporation Transport'' to negotiate the city's low railway bridges. By 1939, these vehicles were becoming worn out and it was decided to phase out tramcars. From 1902 until 1943, conductors on each tram collected fares but this was later replaced with a system, with fares costing 1d.

Closure

The system was closed on 20 January 1950, when electric trams were replaced with electric

trolleybuses A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

Heath Park Electric Tramway

A short gauge tramway and electric trams were built by members of Cardiff Model Engineering Society (including a former employee of Cardiff Corporation Tramways). The trams run on a track at the Society's grounds in Heath Park, where visitors can ride the tram.

References

External links

Cardiff Corporation Tramways at British Tramway Company Badges and Buttons

Cardiff Model Engineering Society

Images of Trams collated by WalesOnline
{{Historic UK Trams Tram transport in Wales 1902 establishments in Wales Transport in Cardiff