Swansea Improvements and Tramway Company
| Operation | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Swansea |
| Open | 12 April 1878 |
| Close | 29 June 1937 |
| Status | Closed |
| Infrastructure | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Propulsion system(s) | Horse, steam then electric |
| Statistics | |
| Route length | 13.36 miles (21.50 km) |
The Swansea Improvements and Tramway Company operated street trams in and around Swansea in Wales from 1878 to 1937.
Swansea is Wales's second city and was a leader in the Industrial Revolution owing to the ready availability of local resources of coal and good access via its seaport to imported metal ores, especially copper, from the West Country, Cornwall and Devon.
The city is constrained geographically by high hills landwards from Swansea Bay giving the city a reversed 'L' shape. Transport was a particular issue for the rapidly expanding town (as it was before the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969 made it a city). Industry and workers' housing was expanding northwards towards Morriston, up the Swansea Valley whilst wealthier homes spread westwards along the coast towards Sketty. The world's first passenger railway, the Swansea and Mumbles Railway (SMR), had demonstrated the power of rails to carry passengers but a street tramway was not considered until after the Tramways Act 1870 when a group of business men formed the Swansea Tramways Company. Problems with raising capital and the need for street widening to accommodate trams led to its failure and the subsequent formation of the Swansea Improvements & Tramway Company (SITC) in 1873 to not only widen the streets but also provide places of entertainment including a music hall and a pier at the Mumbles.
Horse trams to Morriston and St Helens began in 1878 and in 1882 to Cwmbwrla using 10 American built cars. The company had powers to run their trams along the SMR but were forced by a court ruling to run horse trams only behind the SMR's own steam trains to stop their trial of three Hughes Locomotive Company steam engines being used to pull their passenger cars. The three engines were moved to run the Cwmbwrla route but they proved unreliable, possibly due to the steep gradients and so led to Swansea being the first town in Wales to introduce electric traction in 1900 after being bought-out by the British Electric Traction Company Limited (BET).
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