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Edinburgh Transport Edinburgh Electric Trams Edinburgh Corporation Transport Department |
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Conversion of the Cable Car System In July 1919, responsibility for Edinburgh's tramways passed to the Tramways Dept of the City. The city immediately set about converting the cable tramway system to an electric system. Conversion was carried out between 1919 and 1923, the final cable car running on 23 June 1923. |
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Edinburgh & Leith From 1900 onwards, the two-mile journey down Leith Walk, from Edinburgh and Leith involved a change of tram, transferring between an Edinburgh cable car and a Leith electric car at Pilrig. This situation continued until the Edinburgh part of the route was converted to electric trams on 20 June 1922. |
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Princes Street Proposals to erect poles in the centre of Princes Street for the electric trams met with opposition, but were later accepted following debate in the House of Parliament. Slender tapered poles with scroll-work were installed, and the electric trams in Princes Street began to operate on 22 October 1922 |
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Edinburgh & Musselburgh Just as on a journey from Edinburgh to Leith in the cable car days, involved a change of tram at Pilrig, a journey to the east from Edinburgh along the Firth of Forth to Musselburgh required a change of tram at Joppa. This situation continued until the Edinburgh part of the route was converted to electric trams on 23 June 1923. |
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Replacement of Trams by Buses As Edinburgh grew, the size of the tramway network did not keep pace. New bus services were introduced, particularly from the late 1940s onwards. Throughout the early 1950s, individual tram services were converted to bus operation, the final tram running on 16 November 1956. |
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Reference: Edinburgh Transport [DGL Hunter] and The Tramways of Eastern Scotland [Gillham and Wiseman] |
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Comments on Trams 1871 to 1905: horse-drawn trams: 1888 to 1923 = cable cars: 1919 to 1956 electric trams |
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