Electric trams and trolleybuses featured prominently in early issues of Buses Illustrated, but motorbuses replaced all but one of the remaining tram systems by 1962 and all the trolleybuses by 1972. As ALAN MILLAR explains, trams have returned to a few places in a different form, as have electric buses, but with batteries rather than overhead wires.
When Buses Illustrated No.1 appeared in autumn 1949, there were 23 electric tram and 36 trolleybus systems in the British Isles. Motorbuses replaced ten of the trolleybus and all but five of the tramway systems over the next ten years. Only the Blackpool tramway survived from 1963 and the last trolleybus operation closed in 1972.
Electric street public transport has since returned, with trams reintroduced in seven cities. No trolleybuses, however, but battery electrics are steadily replacing diesels and there already are far more than there ever were trolleybuses.
The tram became the pre-eminent form of street public transport from the 1870s, its rails providing a smooth ride on unpaved roads. Local authorities were permitted to build the tracks and grant 21-year concessions to operate the trams, after which they could take over the concessionaire’s assets.
