Electric tramways formed the backbone of most towns and cities in the first half of the twentieth century. But when they got in the way of cars, they had to go. People loved their trams, they took them to school, to work, to go shopping, to the cinema and to football matches. When the last Glasgow tram ran in 1962, a quarter of a million Glaswegians braved the pouring rain to say goodbye. Thirty years later, trams were re-invented to help combat congestion and environmental impacts of the car. Both eras are covered in this book by an engineer who witnessed the demise of the tram and its revival, playing a major role in getting trams onto the streets of Manchester in 1992. Now trams are running again in London, Edinburgh and cities in between. This is a personal story about the last tramways in Britain and the new generation of light rail systems, a term invented to avoid any confusion with old double deckers clanking down the middle of the road. It is interlaced with stories of tramways in the UK, Europe and beyond, gained when working as an international light rail consultant.
A civil engineer turned transport planner, Tony Young has spent his life with trams. After graduating from Leeds University, he undertook transport research at the Universities of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield and Salford, and then joined the new SELNEC PTE in Manchester. He led the technical team that brought street-running trams back to Manchester in 1992, the first new tramway in the UK. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Chartered Institute of Logistic and Transport and a Churchill Fellow. Tony’s wide light rail experience has taken him around the world working on new and existing tram systems.
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Tony Young will be a familiar name to many readers as, in recent years, he has authored or coauthored books on tramway histories. As a Society member, he also gives talks to some of our area groups, often on modern tramway developments based on his professional working life. This book, dedicated as it is, to our Society (and the LRTA) " ... who have kept alive the spirit of tramways" deserves some attention here.
As the sub-title indicates, this is very much an autobiography which provides an extensive back story to getting trams back onto the streets of Manchester. His life story from birth to university studying civil engineering is covered in very great detail but does highlight his exposure to trams in the late 1940s and the 1950s by virtue of geographically well-placed relatives. Having a schoolboy interest in trams at that time was, at best, considered odd but later it stood him in good stead in his working life.
By the time Sheffield, Glasgow and parts of Blackpool had lost their trams in the I 960s, the young Tony lamented more than ever the loss of so many tram(way)s that still had plenty of life in them. Why couldn't "they" see the advantages of a modern tramway?
After graduation, he made academic moves to Newcastle and then to Sheffield, where he bravely aired his ideas for a new 'light rail' system - only six years after the original tram system was scrapped. His next move, to Salford, got him involved with transport planning.
Holidays in Europe and especially a study tour in North America in the 1960s convinced him more than ever that new tramways would be good for the UK too. A particular observation in Boston was the conversion of a suburban railway line to a high-speed tramway which was extended into the city centre. Back in the UK, his resulting study report led to further professional activity and ultimately (but unknown at the time) to the return of trams to British streets.
In 1971, he joined SELNEC PTE in Manchester, which was then concerned with buses. Meanwhile, new 'light rail' (never 'tram' in official circles!) was being prepared for the Tyne & Wear Metro and for London's DLR. In 1981, Manchester set up studies to solve the city's major traffic problems. The resulting strategy proposed converting six rail lines to 'light rail' with street-running links through the city centre.
Pivotal moments in this process included tram visits to Amsterdam and Karlsruhe where participants could envisage new trams back in Manchester. By the late 1980s, Tony was a 'technical champion' for the 'light rail' project.
It took four years to get the government's final approval. The first powers sought were for street-running in the city centre, but new tramway industry standards with the HMRI were needed -the previous ones dated from 1926!
Publicity and education during the build phase were important and an area that Tony appeared to revel in. He was often the public face of the project on local radio and in schools.
Construction started in 1990 and the first section opened in April 1992 between Bury and Victoria Station on a former railway line, but was quickly extended to the city centre as a street tramway; some success at last.
Tony highlights many of the political and financial difficulties encountered along the way and for the later phases of the grand project.
He left GMPTE and set up his own consultancy in 1994 -daunting at the time. He gives a long list of projects he was involved with, in various capacities, but only Dublin and the Blackpool upgrade were ever realised. One senses endless effort and enthusiasm on his part, rewarded only by frustration and disappointment for the most part.
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