Manchester Corporation Tramways
| Locale | England |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1901–1949 |
| Successor | Manchester Metrolink (in 1992) |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Length | 292 miles (470 km) (peak) 163 miles (262 km) (route mile length) |
| Headquarters | Manchester |
Between 1901 and 1949 Manchester Corporation Tramways was the municipal operator of electric tram services in Manchester, England (known as Manchester Corporation Transport Department from 1929 onwards) At its peak in 1928 the organisation carried 328 million passengers, on 953 trams, via 46 routes, along 292 miles (470 km) of track.
It was the United Kingdom's second largest tram network after the services of 16 operators across the capital were combined in 1933 by the London Passenger Transport Board. Other large systems were in Glasgow (which had 100 miles of double track at its peak and Birmingham (80 miles).
The central and south central Manchester area had one of the densest concentrations of tram services of any urban area in the UK. MCT services ran up to the edge of routes provided by other operators in (what is now) Greater Manchester, and in some instances had running rights over their lines and vice versa. There were extensive neighbouring systems in Salford, Oldham, Ashton, Hyde, Middleton, Rochdale and elsewhere.
Services were withdrawn earlier than most other British cities to be replaced by trolleybus and motor buses. Trams did not return to the city until the modern light-rail system Manchester Metrolink opened in 1992.
Though horse-drawn omnibuses were first introduced in Manchester as early as 1824 (arguably the world's first bus service it was run by John Greenwood and ran between Market Street and Piccadilly and Pendleton toll gate in Salford). In the subsequent years other companies joined the rush to provide services culminating by 1850 in 64 omnibuses serving the centre of Manchester from outlying areas. Passenger carrying trams had first began urban operation in Birkenhead in 1860. By 1865 Greenwood merged with the other operators to become the Manchester Carriage Company. The earliest proposals for the construction of rails on the streets of Manchester were made by Henry Osborn O'Hagan in 1872. Though these were resisted (partly because raised tram tracks had been the sources of many accidents elsewhere), by 1875, road congestion was so great that the 'tramway' could not be delayed much longer. Working with the Corporation of Salford, Manchester successfully gained orders under the Tramways Act 1870, which permitted them to build and lease, but expressly not to operate, tramways. The first tracks therefore were built to allow the already existing lines from neighbouring Salford to run into the city along Deansgate.
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