History

The history of Trams goes back a long way in Swansea - Following the Mumbles Railway Act 1804. At this stage, the railway was known as the Oystermouth Railway. It later became the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, but its popular name was the Mumbles Train.

There was no road link between Swansea and Oystermouth and the original purpose of the railway was to transport coal, iron-ore and limestone. Operations began in 1806 with horse-drawn four wheeled dandy, from the Brewery Bank adjacent to the Swansea Canal in Swansea, around the wide sweep of Swansea Bay to its destination at Castle Hill at the tiny isolated fishing village of Oystermouth.

In 1807 approval was given to carry passengers along the line, with company director Benjamin French paying the company the sum of twenty pounds for the right to do so. On March 25, 1807, the first regular service carrying passengers between Swansea and Mumbles began, thus giving the railway the claim of being the first passenger railway in the world. Steam power replaced the horses in 1877, and in 1893 the railway was extended to nearby Southend. In 1898 the line was further extended to the Mumbles Pier

The line was electrified using overhead cables – so this line has seen three forms of locomotive power over the years – and on March 2, 1929 the first electrical cars were used. These double-deck cars were the largest built for use in Britain, and each could seat 106 passengers. During the late 1950s, The South Wales Transport Company (which operated a large motor bus fleet in the area) managed to purchase the railway and despite vociferous local opposition proceeded to close the line down.

At 11.52am on January 5th, 1960, the last train left Swansea for Mumbles driven by Frank Duncan, who had driven the train since 1907. Within a very short time of the train returning to its Rutland Street base, work began on dismantling the track.

Links

There are eight tramway/light rail systems in the UK—in Croydon, London's docklands, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham and Blackpool. In addition, several new light rail schemes are in the planning stage, most noteably in Leeds, London (West London and South-Central London), Bristol, Portsmouth, Liverpool and Edinburgh.

The Mumbles Train - World's First Railway Service

Wikipedia - History of the Swansea - Mumbles Railway

The Trams uk website

Nottinghams New Tram System

Manchesters Tram System

Sheffields "Super Tram" System

LRTA - The Light Rail Transit Association

Croydon tramlink is a group of tram enthusiasts supporting Croydon trams

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