The Horse Tamways.......1873 - 1902

Bottanic Gardens Terminus...1885......


The Southport Tramways Order of 1872 authorised the construction of Southport's first horse tramway. Opened on 31st May 1873, it ran from Churchtown Station, southwest to Birkdale Station, travelling via Mill Lane, Roe Lane and Lord Street and was operated by the Southport Tramways Company. A second route was opened shortly afterward, running from Lord Street to Cambridge Road, where it re-joined the original line by Churchtown Station, before continuing to the Botanic Gardens. The system was single-track throughout its 6 miles, and worked by a fleet of thirteen open-top double-deck trams, liveried in green and white.

On the 12th May 1883, the Birkdale and Southport Tramways Company opened another line to the east of the Southport Tramways system. It ran from London Square (later Monument Square), on Lord Street, to Kew Gardens in the southeast, via Scarisbrook Road. On the 5th November 1884 a short section south along Sefton Street to the Crown Hotel opened, the only section of the system that was actually in Birkdale. It is thought that the route was worked by twelve horse-drawn tramcars, although this cannot be confirmed. Two years later, in 1896, Southport Corporation purchased the Company and, along with Birkdale UDC, also purchased the tramway tracks that lay within their boundaries. The lines of the Southport Tramways Company were leased back to the Company for a period of 21 years, whilst those of the Birkdale and Southport Tramway Company were ostensibly operated by the Company until electrification. In 1899 the authority was given for Southport Corporation to commence its electrification programme and to construct new routes in the process.

The Electric Tramways.........1900 - 1934

The opening day of the Electric Tramways...1900...


On the 18th July 1900, Southport Corporation tramcars ran for the first time, when three new electric routes were opened, the High Park, Blowick and Ash Street sections being the first to be brought into use. By the end of the year a total of seven routes had been opened.

The trams were housed at a newly constructed depot in Canning Road, Blowick and the initial fleet consisted of nine open-top double-deckers (occupying the even numbers; 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18) and six combination single-deckers (occupying the odd numbers; 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11), all manufactured by the Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works of Preston, and liveried in maroon and cream.

In 1901 the British Electric Traction Company purchased the Southport Tramways Company and began to electrify the leased lines. The first electric service commenced on the 11th August 1901 on the Botanic Gardens route, which terminated at the Southport/Birkdale boundary, using 20 Brush open-top double-deckers (Nos. 1-20), based at the Company's former horse tram depot in Churchtown. By 1903 electrification of the 5-mile system had been completed.

In 1912 Birkdale UDC was absorbed into the borough of Southport, and, just five years later, on the 1st January 1918, Southport Corporation finally united the tramway system in the town by purchasing the Southport Tramways Company from the BET for the sum of £35 000, although operation of the services was not taken over by the Corporation until 1st March of that year.

In 1919 a programme of top-covering all the open-toppers was started and all the trams underwent re-conditioning and re-building to some extent. This kept the fleet running throughout the 1920's.

In 1924 Southport Corporation purchased its first bus, a locally built Vulcan VSD (No. 1: FY6272) with 28-seat toastrack bodywork, intended for sea-front duties. More followed, and by 1930 the Corporation had a fleet of 12 vehicles, mainly Vulcan's, along with an AEC 411 of 1925 and two Leyland TD1's purchased in 1929. This, effectively, was the writing on the wall for the tramway system, which was isolated and had never connected with any other system, unlike the majority of neighbouring tramways. From March 1931 the former Southport Tramways routes were gradually abandoned and replaced by buses, until, on the 31st December 1934, the last tram ran in Southport, bringing to an end over 50 years of tramway operations in the borough.

The inner circle line....1900....

London Square 1898.....

Trafalgar road 1930.....

Lord Street and Eastbank Street junction....

The lower sallon of a retired tramcar....Norwood Avenue...1970.....

London Square ..1902...

The ornate interior of a sallon car...1901....

Crescent Road...1931...

Chaple Street...1910...

The Monument....Grand tour car...1929...

Kew Gardens Terminus...1912...