Bradford Tramways & Omnibus Company
Two private companies had tried to build tramways in Bradford but would not meet the Bradford Corporation financial guarantees, so in 1880 the Corporation obtained powers under the Bradford Corporation Tramways Order to built tramways but, because of the Tramways Act 1870 could not operate trams[1].In June 1881 Bradford Corporation was recieving tenders to construct it's tramways[2]. There was concern that the Corporation was seeking tenders to operate the tramway before obtaining the costs of constructing it. The Corporation tried to float a joint stock company to operate the tramways[3]. This failed, so in July they accepted the tender from William Turton, William Mason and William Busby to operate the tramways on a 21 year lease. At this time they stated that they would form a company, Bradford Tramways & Omnibus Company, to buy or construct tramways in Yorkshire towns other than Bradford as well as supplying tramcars etc.
The first tramline opened on the 2nd February 1882 with six horse drawn omnibuses<Bradford Observer, 02 Feb 1882, page 7</ref>. At this time the company was known as the Bradford Tramway Company and used this name on it's omnibuses. The other two tramlines that the Corporation had started were opened in June and Septemeber. Due to the steep gradient on these lines, steam traction units were ordered and used on these lines[4]. The fare was 2d regardless of the length of the journey[5].
In 1883 the Corporation obtained powers to build a tramline along Manchester Road and a tramline along Bolton Road. In accordance with the contract made with the Bradford Tramway Company, the lease of the lines was first offered to the Company[6]. The Corporation did not accept the Company's offer for the Manchester Road tramline lease and Company declined to make an offer for the Bolton Road tramline lease. The Manchester Road line lease was awarded to a new company, The Bradford adnd Shelf Tramway Company, set up by business men in the Shelf area who planned to extend the line to Shelf. No acceptable tender was recieved for the Bolton Road tramline, so this was abandoned.
The Company continued to aquire leases for tramlines from the Corporation. The indication is that it started to operate under the name of the Bradford Tramway and Omnibus Company in 1885[7]. By 1886 the company had 13 steam traction units, 10 horse trams[8] and omnibuses[9]. It was also offering a hire service[10]. The omnibuses were used to work route that did not have a tramline, with omnibuses sold off when tramlines were operating[11].
In 1893 the company took over the line once operated by the Shipley & District Tramways than had been aquired by the Corporation. By the late 1890s the dividend was 6%[12]. In 1898 the Corporation started to open electric tramlines[13]. With the leases expiring in 1903, in 1900 the Bradford Corporation agreed to purchase the Bradford and Shelf Tramway Company plant and lease, the lease for 3 years operating profits[14]. Negotiations with the Bradford Tramway and Omnibus Company were more protracted. In April 1901 agreement had still not been reached with the risk that services would cease when the lease expired[15]. The Company was also stating that it would oppose the Bill the Corporation was proceeding with to operate on the tramways, but settlement was reached in April[16]. The Corporation resolved to take over the tramways of the local companies on 1st February 1902. In January 1902 the Corporation and Company agreed terms for renting 10 of the company's steam trams[17]. By early June the Company had entered volountary liquidation and was auctioning of it's property[18]. The compensation for the early termination of the lease was decided by arbitration at £1698[19].
The Bradford Tramways & Omnibus Company use of fare boxes can be traced to 1887, when a conductor was convicted of taking fares that were meant to go into the fare box[20]. There are a few report of fare boxes being stolen. In 1898 one of the tram fare boxes was stolen[21].This resulted in the conductor being fined £3, payable at 2s 6d per week.
The tokens below have been attributed to Birkenhead but a company called Birkenhead Tramways and Omnibus Company has not been found. The other possibility is that the tokens are for the Birminbham Tramways & Omnibus Company. However this company is not known to have used fare boxes and Bradford City Tramways issued a token for use with a fare box and with a similar time restriction. The Bradford City Tramways issue is probably from about 1898 and may be due to fare competition between the Company and Corporation tramways, which is known to have happened.
| Birmingham Tramways & Omnibus Co. Ltd. | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:BIK.001.jpg | ||
| Source | (Smith-75/B) | |
| Filename | BIK.001 | |
| Value | ||
| Add Desc. | BT&O. Co Ltd - Top compartment only to be placed in box | |
| Size (mm) | 31 | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Notes | 1876 to 1885 | |
| File:BIK.002.jpg | ||
| Source | (Smith-75/C) | |
| Filename | BIK.002 | |
| Value | ||
| Add Desc. | BT&O. Co Ltd - To be placed in the box to be used 5PM only | |
| Size (mm) | 31 | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Notes | Box presumably fare box | |
| ||
| Source | (Smith-75/D) | |
| Filename | BIK.003 | |
| Value | ||
| Add Desc. | BT&O. Co Ltd - To be placed in the box to be used 5PM only | |
| Size (mm) | 31 | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Notes | pierced | |
| File:BIK.004.jpg | ||
| Source | (Smith-75/E) | |
| Filename | BIK.004 | |
| Value | ||
| Add Desc. | BT&O. Co Ltd - To be placed in the box to be used 6PM only | |
| Size (mm) | 31 | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Notes | ||
- ↑ Bradford City Transport - The Trams 1898-1950, The Local Transport HIstory Library, 2020
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 13 Jun 1881, page 2
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph - Tuesday 12 July 1881, page 2
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph 08 Jun 1882, page 3
- ↑ Bradford Weekly Telegraph, 16 Sep 1882, page 4
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 15 Oct 1884, page 3
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 25 Apr 1885, page 4
- ↑ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 04 Mar 1886, page 1
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 10 Feb 1886, page 2
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 24 Dec 1886, page 1
- ↑ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 24 Oct 1888, page 2
- ↑ Bradford Weekly Telegraph, 05 Aug 1899, page 7
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 01 Feb 1902, page 2
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 08 Feb 1900, page 6
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 16 Apr 1901, page 2
- ↑ Bradford Observer, 03 May 1901, page 4
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 21 Jan 1902, page 2
- ↑ Leeds Mercury, 21 Jun 1902, page 8
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 06 Aug 1903, page 4
- ↑ Bradford Daily Telegraph, 12 Feb 1887, page 3
- ↑ Yorkshire Evening Post, 02 Apr 1898, page 4