Leeds Tramways Company
In October 1870 the Busby brothers of Liverpool were promoting a tramway scheme for Leeds[1]. Leeds Corporation was in favour of the scheme and was looking to have a larger system. When the Bill for the scheme was published, the only issue was that Corporation wanted a 1d per mile fare and the Busby proposal was a 1d for the first mile with 3d for up to 3 miles[2]. The Corporation proceeded with the Busby brothers, who paid the Corporation a £1000 license fee[3]. The arrangement was confirmed in August by the Leeds Tramways Order 1871 and the first line was opened to Headingly on the 16th September[4]. The tramline to Kirkstall Road was opened in April 1872[5]. By May the line had reached Kirkstall village[6].
The Busby proposal had been paving stones for the tramline road surface but the Corporation had insisted on tarmac roads[7]. By early 1872 it was found that the tarmac was badly worn and the rails protruding. The Corporation insisted that the company replace the tarmac with paving stones. Having originally proposed paving stones, the company did not carry out the modifications, so the Corporation stated that it would make the changes and charge the company. When the Corporation blocked a section of the road, the company obtained an injunction to prevent the Corporation from interfering with the operation of the tramway for anything other than tarmac repairs. This effectively brought the change to a halt.
In November 1871 an act had started going through parliament to enable another company to take over the operations and extend the system[8]. The Bill creating the Leeds Tramway Company received Royal Assent in September 1872. The prospectus for the Leeds Tramways Company gives a proposed share capital of £160,000 in £10 shares with a claim that the tramway operations would yield 11% return on share capital[9]. William Turton, then an omnibus proprietor, is named as one of the directors and Daniel Busby soon became a director. The company proposed to build three more tramlines and had engaged the Continental and General Tramways Company to build the additional tramlines. By December the company was inviting tenders to pave the Headingly tramline[10]. In April 1873 the company was ordering rails for the Hunslet line[11]. This line opened in March 1874 followed by the Marsh Lane line in November. At the half yearly meeting in August 1874 the company declared a 6% dividend ref>Leeds Mercury, 15 Aug 1874, page 5</ref>. It was reported that the company had installed all the lines that it was authorised to lay and was now in the process of building suitable stabling. At this time the company had 31 cars with 9 on order and 184 horses.
The company continued to expand its operations and in August 1877 a third Leeds Tramway Bill obtained Royal Assent[12]. This enabled expansion of the network with additional tramlines that could be either laid by the company or by the Corporation and leased to the company. It also ratified an agreement between the Corporation and the company enabling the Corporation to purchase the tram system within six months. The Corporation decided to leave the system in the control of the company. With the additional tramlines and extensions the total length of the network was about 22.5 km.
The company was trialing steam traction units from October 1877[13]. By August 1881 the company had received Parliamentary power to run omnibuses and steam traction units[14]. A successful experiment with steam traction took place in 1882 and by August of that year steam traction units were being operated on one route[15]. Due to the lower operating cost of steam traction units, the company planned to expand their use and did so. To try and mitigate increased competition from omnibus operators, the company took over an omnibus company at this time.
It was found that the heavy traction units were causing damage to the rails designed for horse trams, which resulted in horse trams being re-instated on several routes. By the early 1890s there were repeated complaints about the maintenance of the tramlines, with the damage being attributed to the use of steam traction units. With the lease coming to an end, the company was not carry out the repairs and in November 1892 the Corporation notified the company that it intended to take over the tram system. Following arbitration, the Council purchased the operation for £114,950 in July 1893, obtaining possession on 2 February l894. At the takeover there was 35km of tramlines, 45 horse cars, 400 horses and 25 steam traction units with trailers. The Corporation operated the system from February 1894, obtaining an Act to do so in 1897. It converted all routes to electric traction by April 1902.
The Leeds Tramway Company was wound up early in 1895[16]
| Leeds Tramways Company | ||
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| File:LEE.001.jpg | ||
| Source | (Smith) | |
| Filename | LEE.001 | |
| Value | 0 | |
| Add Desc. | This must be paid on the farebox | |
| Size (mm) | 23 | |
| Manufacture | 0 Brass | |
| Notes | 1871-1894 | |
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| Source | (Smith) | |
| Filename | LEE.002 | |
| Value | 0 | |
| Add Desc. | This must be paid on the farebox | |
| Size (mm) | 26 | |
| Manufacture | 0 Brass | |
| Notes | ||
- ↑ Leeds Mercury, 20 Oct 1870, page 5
- ↑ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 03 Jan 1871, page 6
- ↑ Leeds Corporation 1835-1905, Brian Barber, PhD Thesis, University of Leeds, 1975
- ↑ Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 18 Sep 1871, page 2
- ↑ Leeds Times, 06 Apr 1872, page 5
- ↑ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 20 May 1872, page 2
- ↑ Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 12 Feb 1872, page 2
- ↑ The London Gazette, 24 Nov 1871, Issue 23799, Page 5099
- ↑ Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 30 Sep 1872, page 1
- ↑ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 14 Dec 1872, page 2
- ↑ Bradford Observer, 12 Apr 1873, page 4
- ↑ Leeds Mercury, 03 Aug 1877, page 8
- ↑ Leeds City Tramways 1871 — 1959, West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive
- ↑ Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 20 Aug 1881, page 2
- ↑ Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 26 Aug 1882, page 2
- ↑ The London Gazette, 26 Feb 1895, Issue 26602, Page 1208