11 photos showing trams in Liverpool’s changing city centre from the 1900s
Trams could be set to return to the streets of Liverpool after an absence of more than 65 years.
Trams could be set to return to the streets of Liverpool after an absence of more than 65 years. Tram train technology has been put forward as a possible solution for transport issues around Anfield and the wider North Liverpool area.
The proposal could help ease matchday transport options for Liverpool FC fans heading to and from the stadium. ease pollution for local residents and alleviate congestion issues around L4. Currently, the nearest train station to the ward and football ground is more than two miles away in Kirkdale.
Cllr Liam Robinson, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport and Air Quality portfolio holder, has been looking into the transport options and conceded the addition of a new mainline station ‘wouldn’t be straightforward’.
“We’ve widened the remit of the studies we’re doing,” he told a scrutiny committee this week. “We’re looking at other kinds of alternatives, like tram train technology that could use the Bootle branch line and onto street running tracks to get closer to the stadium, that could be an option.”
Liverpool’s old horse-drawn tram system began to be replaced by electric tramcars in 1898 following the Liverpool Corporation’s purchase of the Liverpool United Tramway and Omnibus Company. They ran until 1957, when the last tram, (Car 293 No. 6A), ran from Liverpool’s Pier Head to Bowring Park on 14 September.
Below we take a look back at that almost forgotten age with some incredible photos spanning from the 1900s to post-war Liverpool, when the last tramcar was decommissioned.
1. Horse drawn trams outside Liverpool Lime Street station
Horse drawn trams line up outside Liverpool Lime Street station in 1890. (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
2. Liverpool’s first electric tram terminus
Liverpool’s first electric tram route’s terminus in Derby Square in the city around 1900. The route was a cross country run known as the ‘circular route’. (Photo by J. Burke/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
3. Changing the horses at a tram stop
Changing the horses at a tram stop in Liverpool in 1890. (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
4. Pony cart is parked in front of a horse-drawn tram
A pony cart is parked in front of a horse-drawn tram in 1895. The Alexander theatre on the right became the well known variety theatre, the Empire. (Photo by J. Burke/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)