Swindon Corporation Tramways

Swindon Corporation Tramways operated an electric passenger tramway service in Swindon between 1904 and 1929.^[1]

Swindon Corporation Tramways
Decorated tram on Fleet Street in Swindon
Operation
Locale	Swindon, England
Open	22 September 1904
Close	11 July 1929
Status	Closed
Infrastructure
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Propulsion system(s)	Electric
Statistics
Route length	3.7 miles (6.0 km)

History

Portrait photo of a group of tram drivers and personnel at Swindon, Wiltshire, England in 1924-25. The photographer was Fred C. Palmer of Tower Studio, Herne Bay, Kent ca.1905-1916, and of 6 Cromwell Street, Swindon ca.1920-1936.

Swindon Corporation was the local council formed by the 1901 municipal borough charter,^[2] with the amalgamation of the Old and New Swindon councils; a power station was built in Corporation Street. On the same site at SU 1522 8503 was the tram depot.

The corporation started to operate electric trams in 1904. A total of 3.75 miles (6.04 km) of 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) gauge track was laid down from the Great Western Railway Station to Rodbourne, Gorse Hill and the Market Square in Old Town. A small fleet of nine 48 seater trams were bought at the time of inception with four further cars purchased at a later date.

In 1906, the Swindon tram disaster occurred. A number 11 tram taking passengers from the Bath and West Show being held in Old Town suffered brake failure driving down Victoria Hill and crashed in Regents Circus killing 5.^[2]

Closure

After only 25 years of operation, Swindon's trams were phased out by buses in 1929.^[3]

Tramcar 13 survived and is under restoration.