Hull Street Tramways

The Kingston upon Hull tramway network was a network of 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) tram lines following the five main roads radially out of the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. Two of these lines went west, and two east. The fifth went to the north, and branched to include extra lines serving suburban areas. Additionally a short line linked the city centre to the Corporation Pier where a ferry crossed the Humber estuary to New Holland, Lincolnshire.

The early tramway system was worked from 1876 by horse power by the Hull Street Tramways company, except on the eastwards Hedon Road route which was operated by steam power from the outset by the Drypool and Marfleet Steam Tramways Company after 1899. Both companies were acquired by the city council in the final years of the 19th century, and the routes electrified and converted to double track, and operated as a municipal concern.

The City of Hull Tramways (later known as the Corporation Tramways) expanded the electrified tram network along the main roads of Hull up to 1927 when the tram system reached its greatest size.

Between 1937 and 1945 the system was converted to trolleybus operation. The Hull trolleybus system worked on the same paths as tram system, with the exception of the Hedon Road and Corporation Pier branches which became diesel bus operated. Later, all trolleybus services were replaced with diesel powered buses.

In 1871, soon after the Tramways act of 1870 became law, permission was sought from the board of Kingston upon Hull to construct a tram system in the town. The scheme was backed by Major Trevenen James Holland and the scheme received the support of the local board, despite problems due to narrow streets in the old town – making double track running difficult as well as causing opposition from the landowning Trinity House. In 1872 the construction was authorised by a local act of parliament, allowing the construction by the Continental & General Tramways Company of several tram lines in Hull centred on the town centre, including two westward lines along Anlaby and Hessle Road, a line north-eastward along Holderness Road, a line roughly west-north-west along Spring Bank, and a short line running southwards from the city centre to the old town to Nelson Street close to the Victoria Pier.

...
Wikipedia