London's last tram week

Street tramways in London date from 1861, when the American entrepreneur, George Francis Train, launched two speculative horse-drawn routes in the city. These aroused considerable hostility among local residents, and because the rails projected above the surface of the road, were considered a danger to other road users. The services were withdrawn in June 1862 after Train was prosecuted for damaging the highway.^[1][2]

In 1870, Parliament passed the Tramways Act, which provided a legal framework for the construction and operation of tramways. It required trams to run in grooved rails flush with the road surface, thus allowing other vehicles to share the routes. The Act allowed local authorities to grant concessions to tramway operators, who would construct the tracks and maintain the public highway.^[3][4]

The Tramways Act stimulated the construction of new tram routes throughout London. By 1880, there were 63 miles (101 km) of track, with 479 cars and 4,178 horses. Some 64 million passengers were carried that year.^[1] The lines all used a standard gauge of 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm; the same as the standard railway gauge) to permit inter-company working.^[4]

In 1901, electric trams started to replace horse-drawn vehicles. The first electric service was operated by London United Tramways (LUT) in Shepherd's Bush, Kew and Acton. In 1903, London County Council (LCC) electrified its line from Westminster and Blackfriars bridges to Tooting. In contrast to the LUT system, which relied on overhead wires for its power supply, the LCC line drew power from a conduit sunk between the rails.

Electric trams were popular with Londoners, ridership was high and the system expanded rapidly. In 1911, two out of every three public transport journeys were made by tram. By 1914, the London tram network was the largest in Europe. In 1933, the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) was established to operate local public transport in London. The Board acquired 167 miles (269 km) of track from the LCC, and a further 92 miles (148 km) from other operators.^[1][5]

But despite its popularity, the system suffered serious drawbacks. The routes were inflexible, and, because of the high capital costs involved, could not economically be extended to serve new suburbs. Maintenance of the tracks was also expensive. Trams were also seen as a cause of traffic congestion, especially in London's narrow streets. From the early 1920s, the trams faced competition from diesel buses, whose capital cost per seat was about half that of the trams and whose running cost per vehicle-mile (in London) was about 20% lower.^[6]

In 1931, the LUT converted 17 of its route miles (27 km) to trolleybuses. These proved more popular than the trams, with ridership increasing by 25% on some of the routes.^[7][6] Between 1935 and 1940, the LPTB converted nearly all of the tram routes north of the Thames to trolleybuses. When the conversion programme was paused in 1940 because of World War II, the only tram routes remaining were those south of the Thames and three cross-river routes that used the Kingsway Tunnel.^[8]

The LPTB's first annual report after the war referred to "the urgent necessity for replacing trams in south London by a more modern and attractive form of transport". In 1946, the Board announced that the remaining trams would be replaced by diesel buses rather than trolleybuses. This was partly because the power-generating plant used by both trams and trolleybuses was nearing the end of its life, and partly because the economics of bus operation was moving in favour of diesel rather than electric.^[9]

In 1949, Lord Latham, chairman of the London Transport Executive^[b], announced that the replacement of the remaining trams by buses would begin in October 1950 and would cost £10 million. Because it was constrained by the supply of new vehicles and of garage accommodation, it would be carried out in stages over the next three years. The programme was code-named Operation Tramaway.^[10]