Tram-ton Hill

Walking down Hampton Hill High Street these days, it is hard to believe that just over a century ago the first tram routes were coming into operation. On 4th April 1903 the first tram route, the 67, opened, and ran from Hampton Court Palace to Hammersmith, via Hampton Hill - an identical route to the 267 bus today. The route became known as the ‘Hampton Court Loop’. In 1903 you could travel its whole length for just 6D (2.5p). The 67 ran successfully until 1935, when it was replaced by the 667 trolleybus service.

In the early 1900’s the landscape was virtually all open fields - the introduction of the trams changed that. Much of the line along the high street was single track. The big push started in 1904 and lasted until around 1910, when buildings were demolished, and rebuilt further back, to allow for a double track. This increase in traffic, (in its heyday a tram was running every 3 minutes), led to the building of the Fulwell Tram Terminus, which occupied the site that is now Fulwell Bus Garage. Fulwell tram depot was very large, covering over 5 ½ acres, and was a major local employer. The "car shed” contained 18 tracks which could accommodate 189 trams. The depot was converted to accommodate trolleybuses between 1931 and 1935; these ran until 1962, when diesel buses, as we know them today, took over.

Perhaps the reintroduction of the trams should be considered - they provided a fast public transport service with a very low carbon footprint. However, recent tram development schemes in Scotland have proven troublesome. Edinburgh’s tram scheme has gone way over-budget and is nowhere near completion. Eight years ago the estimated cost of the project was £375 million. The cost was recently estimated to be more than double that, even with the project being massively scaled down. Work on the Princes Street tramline is now scheduled to continue until Summer 2012.

Most of us in the suburbs are in the habit of walking straight out of our front door, and into the car. Trams are perhaps best suited to city centres, where congestion is a serious issue. Whilst trams may evoke a feeling of nostalgia for days gone by, that would seem to be where they belong, in the past.