Leeds Tramway

Leeds Tramway

A 1925 Leeds tram at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire
Locale	England
Dates of operation	29 October 1891–7 November 1959
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	overhead catenary
Headquarters	Leeds

Leeds Corporation Tramways formerly served the city of Leeds, England. The original trams were horse-drawn, but, by 1901, electrification had been completed. The tramway opened on 29 October 1891

There were several lines running between the city centre and Cross Gates,Chapel Allerton,Moortown,Roundhay,Middleton,Beeston,Armley,Hunslet and Kirkstall. The network, of which certain sections were on reserved track, was far more extensive than that of the proposed Leeds Supertram, which has not been built after a funding shortfall from central government.

The earliest trams were single decker horsedrawn trams, but later purchases were double deckers, operated by Leeds Tramways Company. The last of these ran in 1901. Steam trams were also used until full electrification. Throughout most of the twentieth century the tramway used a mixture of bus style and balloon trams, both in double-decker formation. The system of collection by trams from the overhead wiring was unusual in that it used pantographs rather than poles, obviating the need to turn the pole round at each terminus.

Even when other cities were abandoning their tramways in the 1940s, Leeds continued to modernise its system. Two prototype modern single-deck trams (somewhat similar to those used in continental European cities) were built in the early 1950s, in particular a single deck tram painted purple for the coronation, was in operation on route 3 to Roundhay in 1953 - perhaps because this followed a segregated track along Roundhay Road to the popular attraction of Roundhay Park. This "coronation" tram still operates in the Beamish open-air museum at Stanley Co. Durham.

In the early 1950s, Leeds purchased 90 "Feltham" secondhand trams (dating from 1931), from London Transport. By this period, Leeds tramcars were normally painted in red.

After the closure of the Leeds system on 7 November 1959, Sheffield became the last city in England operating trams (closing in 1960), with Glasgow (Scotland) the last in the UK (closing in 1962). The Blackpool tramway then became the UK's only commercial tramway, until the opening of the Manchester Metrolink in 1992.