British Electricity History
sepia coloured historical map of s Wales area

South Wales Electric Tramway Systems

Electric Tramways in Southern Wales[1]

  YEARS OPERATING ROUTE MILES MAX NO OF CARS
Aberdare 1903-1935 5.8 26
Cardiff Corporation 1902-1950 19.5 242
Llanelly & District Co.. 1911-1938 6.2 16
Merthyr Tydfil Co. 1901-1939 3.5 20
Newport Corporation 1903-1937 8.5 57
Pontypridd UDC 1905-1931 5.3 31
Rhondda Tramways Co. 1908-1934 20.9 54
Swansea Tramways Co. 1900-1937 13.3 107
Swansea & Mumbles Railway 1929-1960 5.4 13

Eight electric tramway systems were opened between 1900 and 1913. The Swansea and Mumbles line was a conventional railway electrified on tramway principles in 1929. Two of the companies–Llanelly & District and Merthyr Tydfil–combined tramway operation with public electricity supply.

Both the Rhondda and Swansea companies built their own power stations for supplying the tramway network. In 1927-28 Rhondda stations generated 3.49 million kWh.[2] Rhondda was also unusual in providing an electric tramway seven yeas before public supply began in the urban area.

Tramway supply as a proportion of total electricity sales in 1925-26 varied from 47.0 percent in Aberdare to 29.4 percent in Pontypridd, 22.9 percent in Merthyr Tydfil and 18.8 percent in Cardiff. [3]

Electric tramways provided fast, efficient and cheap urban transport and were very profitable before 1914. Motor bus competition after the war quickly ended the viability of the smaller systems.

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[1] Compiled from Keith Turner, Directory of British Tramways, Vol 1 (Stroud: Tempus Publishing, 2007).
[2] Electricity Commissioners, Generation of Electricity in Great Britain, Year ending 31st March 1928 (London: HMSO, 1928).
[3] Electricity Commissioners, Engineering and Financial Statistics 1925-26.

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