Return of the " Tram " !

There was a time when the biggest single mover of people within cities was the Tram. In never lost favour in many parts of the world, but where governments encouraged the mass production of cheaper motor cars city traffic between car and tram became a nightmare.    The two forms of transport were competing for the same area of roadway and modernity demanded that the old ways give way to the new.

The problem was that the trams ran on fixed rail lines in the middle of the road and at regular intervals they were obliged to stop to take on and unload passengers.   A great mass of people were then congregated in the roadway and all other forms of traffic came to a complete stop.   Most city streets were limited to a single lane of motor traffic in each direction and it was claimed that traffic would move faster if the trams were removed.

There was also a safety and convenience factor.   In some European cities, the earliest trams had been horse drawn and the newer electric models retained their characteristics.   They were partly an enclosed cabin and partly what were termed " toast rack " seating, open at the side and exposed to the elements.   These trams also had long lengths of boarding steps and it was quite normal at peak times to see passengers clinging to the sides and riding exposed on these platforms - which would be a  huge safety infringement today.

At the time of discontinuation, many cities opted for replacement with Trolley buses.   These were similar to a conventional motor bus but with power served by a pantograph on the roof drawing electricity from overhead fixed power lines.   The advantage was that they could travel like an ordinary bus because that pantograph had the mobility to allow them to move to the kerb and stop to load and disgorge passengers.   They no longer interrupted car traffic, but they sadly lacked the ability to move huge numbers of people in the manner demonstrated by the trams.

The planning of cities has changed and we are no longer subservient to the car.   In fact the car is being banned from city centres and we now encourage vast open spaces for pedestrians and once again the tram is returning as the preferred mode of transport.   Of course it is no longer termed a " Tram ".    The modern expression is " Light Rail " and this form of transport is a longer, sleeker design with all passengers inside and protected from the weather.   Those old " toast racks " are a thing of the past and the accent today is on speed and comfort.

The mode of manning has also changed.   They no longer have a " Conductor "  and fares are not collected from each passenger on each trip.   Instead the " Opal card " deducts the fare from the customers account as it is swiped across a " reader " when entering and alighting - and this now serves across a wide range of public transport.

Gradually, the line length of these new trams will extend as new suburbs house people and they have a need to travel to their jobs.  It seems that the modern city will become a mix of suburban rail serving the far outer suburbs with both metro lines and trams handling the distribution of people where the numbers are both compact and in need of speedy movement.   It seems that the car with a single occupant has slipped lower in the pecking order !