West Ham Corporation Tramways

West Ham Corporation Tramways
West Ham Corporation Tramways tramcar 102 in the London Transport Museum
Operation
Locale	County Borough of West Ham
Open	1 July 1903
Close	1 July 1933
Status	Closed
Infrastructure
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Propulsion system(s)	Electric
Statistics
Route length	16.8 miles (27.0 km)

West Ham Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in the County Borough of West Ham between 1901 and 1933.

History

Situated in Greengate Street, West Ham, this tram depot opened in October 1906, then housed trolleybuses from June 1937 until April 1960. Motorbus operation commenced in November 1959 until October 1992 when the garage closed. It has since been demolished.

Date stone on the former Tramway offices

West Ham Corporation took over the North Metropolitan Tramways horse drawn services in stages starting on 1 July 1903. A programme of modernisation and electrification was undertaken, and the first electric services ran on 27 February 1904.

The company built up a fleet of 134 tramcars in a chocolate and cream livery.

The company experimented with trolley buses as early as 1912. At the annual conference of the Municipal Tramways Association from 25–27 September 1912, an Austrian Cédès-Stoll was the first trolleybus to carry passengers in London, along Greengate Street.

Closure

The services were taken over by London Passenger Transport Board on 1 July 1933.