Losing Track - 6 - Tram Towns

[@HighlandCall]

the death of the trams was a lot more destructive than Beeching: the short sighted nature of it becomes clear when you look at the cities of the world that kept their trams. I lived in Brussels for a bit and their network is very good and incredibly handy: links up with the Metro and provides services to all sorts of places with the buses really being just for places where they don't have trams and where the Metro isn't handy. Shame that everywhere in the UK ripped theirs out and all we have are not overly useful systems like the one in Edinburgh.

[@bobtudbury8505]

rails>nothing to do with beeching

[@mikemidulster]

These days so-called documentaries consist mainly of 50 minutes of waffle just to make one point. This series however is very different. This series is without question the best documentary of any subject, ever to reach a tv screen. Not only is it a complete history of public transport in the UK until the mid 1980s, but it considers all of the effects on society of not having a transport system based on need and common sense. It is obviously biased in favour of public, over private transport , but it presents all of the evidence to back up this view, and exposes the deceitful way in which those whose only motivation is profit, have manipulated the transport system for their own ends.

[@andrewoakeshott7759]

Quite right. As someone thinking about getting into politics and very much interested in public transport, as well as regional/national transport policy, this series has been very helpful in understanding the key principles. Some public transport success stories in the Netherlands, the Greater Copenhagen area and Switzerland seem to further prove the series' many rather devastating claims. Unfortunately, it has also highlighted what can really at best only be called serious incompetence or gross negligence, at worst pure corruption and greed on behalf of all those in charge of national transport policy.

[@cjmillsnun]

This is how documentaries used to be back when we had 4 channels.

[@glenatkinson1230]

Tramlines in Canada had disappeared here in Canada by the 1960's, other than Toronto who had some forward thinking. Even Toronto tried to "modernize" with petrol buses but by 1973 the city had halted removal even adding about 10 route miles since then. Toronto was one of the first electrified systems in 1892 and was the largest (and still is) in North America. After 50 years of tram removal, the UK and Ireland started the reversal of policy by building Metrolink in Manchester. Let's hope that this policy continues...

[@ericzerkle5214]

Here in my area they were called the "interurban" and most were gone by WW2....

[@mattsmocs3281]

Scranton the first city in the world to have a electric service thanks to the troller system was used as a test ground by the ford motor company in the 20s and 30s by forcing one of the connecting trolley railroads into closure paying off politicians and creating a shell company. Once they realized how much power they had and control as they forced the local economies of the raillines’s towns into there hands. It was a matter of time before they went cross country, cross continent, and the world. The scranton system ended in 1954 for bus, immediately afterward it lost passengers, fares hiked, and the city lost financial sway. Toronto was the smartest city in the continent with New Orleans being second. Philly is right now trying to eliminate trolleys ironically.

[@dougalmcdougal8682]

Fantastic quality journalism

[@sutherlandA1]

Melbourne australia kept its tram services then expanded and modernised it which in hindsight was a good decision considering how many cities are installing/reinstalling systems

[@villevirtanen00]

Never heard about this line in Leeds. The ones making decisions cannot have looked to Zurich, Brussels, Prague or Melbourne (loads more). Sad.

[@SpiritandScience]

Don't you just love the 'experts' and politicians?

[@johnjephcote7636]

Politicians...Loved the first generation and now love the second. So civilised. Hooray for Nottingam!

[@MarmiteCrumpets]

Love that Glasgow continued to employ women tram drivers, presumably first introduced during wartime? I wonder why this wasn't more universally adopted, and if they could drive a tram then when not redeploy them at least to trolleybuses? Sadly it took some time for society to catch up.

[@PerCPH2200]

Two reasons - as mentioned in the program, in some cities, unions would block it - During WW1 in London, one of the municipal tramways had trained female drivers and were expected to have them commence driving (there are press-references to support this), but the police refused issue licenses. There are however some photos of female drivers in Lincoln, even some time after the end of WW1.

[@peterbalchin9274]

A good programme.

[@ericzerkle5214]

They were called Trams in the UK and here they were called the interurban...

[@dannyhurren7321]

I love This video

[@martinbitter4162]

Sadly some towns in the continent still consider closing tram lines as an option to save money. There seem to be no national strategy in urban transport anywhere.

[@ribblehead02]

'save money' not "safe money".

[@sortascouse3]

Since there bringing alot of tramways back convert Pacers to trams

[@johnclapshoe8059]

Blackpool! Not even a mention?

[@ribblehead02]

At circa fifteen minutes and thirty seconds in this video the topic of 'fare dodging' is broached. Surely there is a connection between 'fare dodging' and closure of the tram line. Did the protagonist appreciate the consequences of his actions.

[@chrismccartney8668]

Now guided busways are being built and many teams again still not learnt the lessons.

[@mikewatt8706]

What a shame getting rid of the leeds trams

[@tdoran616]

What year was this documentary aired?

[@insertyourquarters]

1984

[@tdoran616]

@@insertyourquarters thank you

[@kumatoni5245]

I like Googling all the people who are featured in this series.They're all dead.

[@steveluckhurst2350]

as is your soul.